CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has directed Teachers Recruitment Board (TRB) to reject the candidature of 196 candidates, who were accused of tampering with the scanned images of OMR sheets for appointment as lecturers in various government polytechnic colleges in the State for 2017-18.
A division bench of Justices K K Sasidharan and P D Audikesavalu, which gave a directive to this effect, also directed the board to take out the remaining OMR sheets in original of the non-tainted candidates and proceed further with the selection process in the competitive examination conducted for the appointment of lecturers.
Originally, the board had issued a notification calling for applications for appointment to the post of lecturers in various disciplines in government polytechnic colleges for 2017-18. It conducted the written examination on September 16, 2017. A set of persons, who were the petitioners, were provisionally selected. When the board was in the process of certificate verification, complaints alleging certain malpractices in respect of scanned copies of OMR sheets and entrustment of evaluation to an outside agency, were received. The board cancelled the entire selection. This notification was challenged before the Madurai Bench by a batch of petitioners.
A single judge came to know that the original OMR Sheets were intact with the board and only scanned sheets were handed over to Datatec Methodex, a Noida-based company, for evaluation and preparation of the final list of candidates. It was at that point of time, a complaint was made to the Office of the Prime Minister, resulting in cancellation of the entire selection process. Following a complaint, Central Crime Branch registered a case. It seized the original OMR Sheets in respect of the 196 candidates from the board and it was sent for analysis.
The single judge at Madurai allowed the writ petitions, after holding that the candidature of 196 tainted candidates should be rejected. The board is at liberty to proceed further in respect of the others, the judge had added.
Another single judge at the Principal seat at Madras, before whom a batch of writ petitions was filed, dismissed them all on the ground that the sanctity of the selection process should be maintained by all concerned. The present appeals were filed against these orders before the present bench.