JAIPUR: In a major twist in Rajasthan’s controversial Sub Inspector (SI) Recruitment 2021 case, a Double Bench of the High Court Division has stayed the Single Bench’s August 28 order that had cancelled the examination.
However, the ban on field postings of the selected candidates will remain in force. The court has also issued notices to the state government in this regard.
Senior advocate R.N. Mathur, appearing for the selected SIs, argued that the petition in question had already become immaterial. He contended that the Single Bench exercised extraordinary powers to deliver its verdict, which was legally unsustainable.
During the hearing, the Division Bench raised serious questions over how the Special Operations Group (SOG) report reached the petitioners of the Single Bench case. The judges noted that the report, signed by ADG V.K. Singh, had been produced without his affidavit, calling it a 'serious matter'.
The Bench also expressed surprise over how the Single Bench had made the report on the basis of its decision and even indicated that clarification could be sought from the Director General of Police (DGP).
Advocate Harendra Neel submitted that the Supreme Court has held in several judgments that if a report is found to be correct, the court cannot ignore it.
Earlier, the Single Bench had scrapped the SI recruitment exam.
Just after the decision, the court granted bail to 23 accused, including former Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) member Ramuram Raika, in connection with the paper leak case.
Those granted bail included trainee SIs, dummy candidates, handlers, and paper buyers. Meanwhile, the bail pleas of 29 others were rejected.
The SI recruitment exam, conducted for 859 posts, had come under cloud after several trainee SIs were found involved in the leak, leading to its cancellation on August 28.
Amid the controversy, RPSC member Dr. Manju Sharma, wife of poet and former AAP leader Kumar Vishwas, resigned from her post last week, following the High Court’s observations.
In her resignation letter to Governor Haribhau Bagde, Sharma wrote that she had always conducted her personal and professional life with transparency and integrity, but the recent controversy had damaged both her reputation and the dignity of the commission.
This recruitment has been mired in political controversy from the outset.
RLP supremo Hanuman Beniwal and senior BJP leader Kirori Lal Meena have consistently demanded that the process be scrapped, while several other leaders have opposed its cancellation.
Meanwhile, the Bhajan Lal government has faced sustained criticism for its prolonged indecision on the matter.