Jharkhand Assembly Speaker Dinesh Oraon, after hearing the clarification given by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Saryu Roy that the Government did not have any constitutional right to interfere in the working of Jharkhand Public Service Commission, asked whether the commission was above the law and Government helpless before it. Speaker however left it to the Government to take a decision in this regard.
“Questions have been raised on all examinations conducted by the JPSC till the date, which could not be denied. There is also a coordination between the legislator, judiciary and executive and it won’t be appropriate that they interfere in each other’s activities. Then a question arises, whether JPSC is above the law and Government is helpless before itIJ Government might be, but the House could never be helpless,” said the Speaker.
Oraon was speaking in the house after a discussion on the issue of JPSC that has rejected candidature of around 600 students in Mains examination for not filling Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheets during the fifth civil services examination.
Roy, citing article 315 of Constitution, explained that the Government has a limitation and JPSC being a constitutional body, it could not question the examination process being conducted by the commission. “The only agency which could interfere in it is the court where the matter is still pending. If any direction is given by the court to the Government, it is bound to abide by it,” said Roy. The Minister however, asserted that the Government sympathising with the candidates, will put their side properly in the court.
The Minister also requested the house to leave the matter there only as even if any direction was given by the House in this regard due to constitutional bindings, it could never be implemented practically. “In a legal opinion given by a former Advocate General, it was opined that Government could not interfere in the working of the JPSC,” said Roy. Moreover, it is the responsibility of the examinee to fill the OMR Sheet properly so that it does not get rejected. “It is clearly mentioned on the back side of the admit card and OMR sheet to fill it cautiously,” he said.
JVM MlA Pradeep speaking on the issue, said that there has never been any such kind of rejection in any State civil services examination. “As out of 2085 candidates, candidatures of 600 candidates were rejected, the competition itself got reduced to half. This is definitely a conspiracy,” said Yadav.
leader of Opposition Hemant Soren calling it a frolic with future of candidates, said that that rejection of candidates could be done only during the preliminary examination.
Both Soren and Yadav again demanded vigilance enquiry into the matter and asked the Government to hold up the appointments until the investigation was completed.