DAHUNSHISHA RYNJAH Vs. MEGHALAYA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The prayer in the instant Misc. application is for stay of the operation of the Notification No. MPSC/D-103/2/2017-2018/200 dated 16th August, 2019 whereby it has been intimated for general information that the (Main Examination) for Recruitment to the post of Meghalaya Civil Services will be held in the month of January, 2020 with the dates to be intimated later. The main ground taken in the writ petition is that the respondent MPSC had declared the (Preliminary) Examination result in contravention of the Advertisement and Plan of Examination as notified.

(2.) Heard Mr. P. Yobin, learned counsel for the applicant and Mr. K. Paul, learned counsel for the respondents No. 1 to 4.

(3.) Mr. P. Yobin, learned counsel for the applicants at the outset submits that for the purpose of consideration of the interim application, he will limit his submissions into two main parts. First, whether the respondents (MPSC) can go beyond the prescribed procedure as given in the syllabus to decide on the list of successful candidates to sit for the (Main) Examination and second, whether an order passed but not communicated has any validity in law. Learned counsel firstly refers to the Advertisement dated 24th July, 2017 and to the syllabus referred therein which was available online and annexed as Annexure-3 to the writ petition, and submits that the Scheme and subject of the Preliminary Examination shows that the Examination was to compose of two compulsory papers of 200 marks each. He stresses on clause- (ii) of the Note, given at Section II, which provides that the General Studies Paper (II) of the Civil Services (Preliminary) will be a qualifying paper, and submits that a plain reading of this clause reflects that the General Studies Paper would be only the qualifying paper and that the paper for consideration of merit in ranking, would be Paper-I. To buttress his arguments, he has taken this Court to the Scheme as provided for the (Main) Examination wherein the Paper in English (Paper-A) was to be of a qualifying nature only and the marks obtained therein were not to be counted for ranking, and the marks obtained in the other papers only, were to be considered for the purpose of merit. He submits that in the Scheme of the Examination, it is not possible that different procedures will be adopted one for the Preliminary and another for the (Main) Examination, and as such the stand taken by the MPSC, that the method of evaluation, besides securing a minimum qualifying marks of 35% in Paper-II, aggregate marks secured in Paper-I and Paper-II will be calculated and considered for the purpose of cutoff marks and declaration of the preliminary result is untenable.