RANCHI: The Jharkhand High Court directed the state government to complete the appointment process for the vacant posts of Chairman and members of the 'Jharkhand Public Service Commission' (JPSC) within the next two months without fail.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice M.S. Sonak and Justice Rajesh Shankar, while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) related to the acute shortage of officers and staff in the state's Forest Department, also directed the government to file an action-taken report by November 19.
The court delivered this verdict after hearing the arguments of the Advocate General and the assurances provided by the government. The next hearing in the matter is scheduled for November 19.
During the hearing, the Advocate General informed the court that the government is serious about filling the vacant posts of Chairman and members at the JPSC. He assured the court that the appointment process is likely to be completed within the next two months.
During the previous hearing, the High Court had reprimanded the government over the long-pending appointments for the JPSC Chairman and member posts and had directed it to present a clear timeline for completing the process.
During Thursday’s proceedings, JPSC counsel Sanjay Piperwal informed the court that the recruitment examination for Assistant Conservator of Forest and Range Forest Officer posts had been cancelled.
The court sought updates from the parties concerned and reiterated the need to complete the appointment process for the commission’s Chairman and members within a defined timeframe.
Notably, JPSC conducts competitive examinations for recruitment to various state government services. Vacancies in its top posts can affect the commission’s functioning and recruitment process.
The petition was initiated by the court on its own after taking note of a severe shortage of manpower in the Forest Department, which had affected conservation and other administrative work, and was later converted into a PIL.
While hearing the PIL, it was revealed that hundreds of administrative and technical posts across various state government departments and the Forest Department are lying vacant, yet recruitment has been stalled because the positions of Chairperson and members at the JPSC remain unfilled.
