ASHWANI KUMAR Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These writ petitions, involving common controversy, are being decided by this common order. The facts are illustratively taken from the SBCWP No.13865/2013- Ashwani Kumar and Pradeep Kumar Vs. State of Rajasthan & Ors.

(2.) The petitioners are aggrieved by the selection process held in pursuance of the Advertisement No.2013/2 dated 20.06.2013 issued by the respondent Mining & Geology Department, Government of Rajasthan, Udaipur, for holding the direct recruitment process for various posts including Mining Assistants, Chemical Assistant and Foreman etc. The said selection process was to be completed by holding a written test, interview as per the initial advertisement No.2013/1 dated 18.03.2013, however, by amending Notification vide Annex.3 dated 20.06.2013, the selection process was confined only to written test and the interview process was done away with. The sum and substance of the grievance raised by the present petitioners who could not be selected in the said selection process, is that the said written test was conducted by the respondent Mining Department through Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, whereas, as per Rule 16 of the Rajasthan Mines & Geological Subordinate Service Rules, 1960 (for brevity, hereinafter referred to as 'Rules of 1960') such direct recruitment selection process can only be held by the appointing authority itself or by the Commission i.e. Rajasthan Public Service Commission and not by the University as has been done in the present case and, therefore, the entire selection process deserves to be quashed and set aside.

(3.) The other ground raised by the petitioners in the present writ petitions is that in the examination conducted for the said posts on 22.09.2013 by the University, at the time of examination, the answer sheets, question papers and even the admission cards of the candidates were collected by the invigilator(s)/officials of the University, and thus the candidates were left with no material to compare their answers with any published answer key, as no such answering key was uploaded on the website of the University or the appointing authority i.e. Mining Department, and as such no transparency was maintained in the selection process and the petitioners never knew their failure or success as no cut-off marks were announced by the respondent- Department.