CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has issued fresh direction to Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC) to declare the results of the written examination for recruitment of 796 assistant section officers (ASO) in Group B of Odisha Secretariat Service within six weeks.
Justice AK Mohapatra issued the order on Friday on a contempt petition regarding non-compliance of high court direction to OPSC to prepare a fresh merit list from the written examination on May 19. While 1,48, 888 candidates had appeared the written examination on August 27, 2022, OPSC had provisionally selected 1,104 candidates for document verification and skill test which was approximately 1.5 times of the 796 vacancies advertised.
Rajat Kumar Mishra and four others, who were not among the shortlisted candidates, in a petition challenged, introduction of cut-off marks for different subjects for preparing merit list after the written examination. Acting on it, the high court quashed the merit list notified by OPSC on November 7, 2022.
While delivering the judgment, the high court had also directed OPSC to prepare a fresh merit list on the basis of aggregate marks secured by the candidates and notify it within two months.