SANDEEP KUMAR Vs. UNION OF INDIA & ORS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The common issue in all these petitions concerns the cancellation of the candidature of the Petitioners who sat for the Sub-Inspector (Executive) ["SI (E)"] selection in the CISF conducted by the Respondents pursuant to an advertisement issued in 2011. After declaring the Petitioners provisionally qualified, each of them received a letter calling them for interviews. Their names appeared in the merit list that was subsequently declared. While other selected candidates joined the training, the Petitioners were not issued call letters. When they made queries, they received a reply that the cases were pending before the Staff Selection Commission ("SSC") for "postexamination analysis".

(2.) Thereafter, on 6th May 2013, identically worded show cause notices ("SCNs") were issued to each of the Petitioners asking them to submit their explanations as to why they should not be debarred from all examinations/ recruitment conducted by the SSC for a period of 5 years.

(3.) It was stated in the SCN that each of the Petitioners was found to have resorted to "malpractices in paper I and paper II". In other words, there was nothing else stated except that it was prima facie found that the Petitioners had resorted to malpractices.