HARSHA SHARMA Vs. THE RAJASTHAN HIGH COURT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This writ petition is preferred by the petitioner questioning the legality of the action of the Recruiting Authority i.e. Rajasthan High Court in rejecting the representation made by her for rounding off of the marks in an individual paper in the Main Examination conducted for appointment to the post of Civil Judges (Junior Division) and Judicial Magistrate, First Class, in Civil Judge cadre under the provisions of Rajasthan Judicial Service Rules, 2010 (for short "the Rules"). The petitioner is also aggrieved by the action of the respondents in not permitting inspection of the answer book of Law paper-II and refusing to supply the certified copies of the answer books, as applied for in accordance with the provisions of Right to Information Act, 2005 (for short "the Act of 2005").

(2.) The facts relevant are that the Recruiting Authority published an advertisement inviting applications from eligible candidates for filling up 187 posts of Civil Judges (Junior Division) and Judicial Magistrate, First Class, by way of direct recruitment in Civil Judge cadre under the Rules. Pursuant to the advertisement issued, the petitioner applied for appearance in the Rajasthan Judicial Service Examination, 2013 (for short "RJS Examination, 2013"). She appeared in the Preliminary Examination and being declared successful therein, appeared in the Main Examination held on 14th & 15th June, 2014.

(3.) As per the Scheme of the Examination for recruitment to the cadre of Civil Judge as provided for under Schedule IV, appended to the Rules, the Main Examination consists of four papers namely; Law Paper-I, Law Paper-II, Language Paper-I (Hindi Essay) and Language-Paper-II (English Essay). The Law Paper I & II carry 100 marks each whereas, the Language Papers-I & II carry 50 marks each. That apart, 35 marks are allocated for interview. It is further provided that after the marks obtained by the candidates in written test have been received, the Recruiting Authority shall call for interview such of them as have obtained a minimum of 35% marks in each of Law papers and 40% marks in aggregate. However, a candidate belonging to Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe category is deemed to be eligible for interview if he has obtained a minimum of 30% marks in each of Law papers and 35% marks in aggregate.