DHRUBAJIT KALITA Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners, contenders for Group-D posts under the N.F. Railways (for short, hereinafter also referred to as 'the Railways') having unsuccessfully challenged the selection process initiated by the Employment Notice No. 1/2008 (Group-D) therefor before the learned Central Administrative Tribunal, Gauhati Bench, Guwahati (hereinafter referred to as 'the learned Tribunal'), have carried the impugnment before this Court seeking redress.

(2.) We have heard Mr B Pathak, learned counsel for the petitioners and Mr MK Choudhury, Senior Advocate assisted by Mr HK Das, Advocate for the respondents.

(3.) The factual background in its bare essentials would provide the setting. In the year 2008, the Railways issued the aforemen-tioned Employment Notice for recruitment to Group-D posts under it. According to the petitioners, being eligible in terms thereof they offered their candidature and having been declared successful in the Physical Efficiency Test (PET) conducted by the Railways, they appeared in the written examination held on 16.10.2011 in which in all 53,992 candidates participated. The examination was conducted in 140 centers spread over various towns within the territorial limits of the Railways including Katihar (Bihar), Siliguri, Alipurduar, Coochbehar (West Bengal), Rangia, Guwah-ati, Lumding, Tinsukia and Dibrugarh (Assa-m). The examination was a centralized proce-dure in which same questions were integrated in four sets nomenclatured differently so much so that the same questions were allotted varying serial numbers setwise and the answers thereto were to be provided in Optical Mark Reader Sheets by black ball point pens. According to the petitioners, they faired well in the examination and were confident to be declared successful in the same. However, after the written test was over, they came to learn of some agitation and media reports to the effect that there had been leakage of the question papers in course of the examination and that the concerned authorities of the Railways had assured to conduct an enquiry into the same. However, as no remedial step as promised was taken, the candidates including the petitioners approached this Court with Writ Petitions being WP(C) Nos. 5506/2011, 5850/2011 and 6529/2011 questioning the validity of the examination process. Though initially these petitions were entertained and restraint orders in the interim qua the process were passed, eventually by order dated 5.1.2012 the petitions were closed with the observation that having regard to the issues raised the Hon'ble Central Administrative Tribunal, Gauhati Bench, Guwahati had the exclusive jurisdiction under the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 to adjudicate the same. It was thereafter that the petitioners approached the learned Tribunal with the Original Applications from which the judgment and order impugned herein has arisen.