CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has quashed the selection process for 711 Hindi teacher posts, citing major procedural lapses by the State Staff Selection Commission.
The verdict was delivered by Justice Dixit Krishna Shripad on Thursday in response to two petitions filed by four aspirants challenging the legality of the recruitment process. Justice Shripad quashed the current selection process, retaining its stage prior to the written main examination.
He directed the Commission to conduct the preliminary examination as per the original advertisement, provide bilingual (English & Hindi) question papers and complete the entire process within three months.
The petitioners had alleged that the Commission failed to follow key provisions of the recruitment notification, particularly the conduct of a preliminary examination and the provision of a bilingual (English & Hindi) question paper, as promised. The Commission had invited applications via an advertisement dated October 10, 2024 and conducted the written main examination on May 15 this year. The exam carried 150 marks, with 20 marks allocated for pedagogy, but the questions for this section were provided only in Hindi.
Justice Shripad observed, “It is the undisputed case of petitioners that neither preliminary examination, as represented to the public at large, was conducted nor the bilingual facility was provided.”
The judge also criticised the Commission’s failure to provide English translations of questions in the pedagogy section. Though the Commission admitted the lapse and proposed a fresh exam for 20 marks, Justice Shripad rejected the solution as flawed.
“That, in my considered view, is not only not provided in the recruitment advertisement, but if undertaken, would pollute the sanctity of selection process.”
