Declare results & go ahead with interview: Gauhati High Court to APSC

GUWAHATI: The Gauhati High Court has directed the APSC (Assam Public Service Commission) to declare the Combined Competitive (Main) (CCE-M) Examinations, 2018 and go ahead with the interview process. However, the High Court has asked the APSC not to declare the final results (written + interview) without the leave of the Court.

Hearing the case (WP-C 3228/2019) regarding the APSC's main examinations, 2018 on Friday Justice Manash Ranjan Pathak issued this order.

On May 17, 2018 the APSC had advertised for the filling up of 165 posts – ACS (Assam Civil Service) (junior grade) 43, Assam Land and Revenue Service (junior grade) 56, Assam Police Service (junior grade) 8, Superintendents of Taxes 10, Superintendent of Excise 1, Assistant Employment Officers 2, Labour Inspectors 10, Inspectors of Taxes 32 and Inspectors of Excise 3.

Both the preliminary and the main examinations were held. However, a few candidates filed a case in the Gauhati High Court stating that the 'answer keys' of a few questions of the preliminary examinations were 'wrong'. That led the High Court to order the APSC not to declare the results of the CCE-M, 2018 without the leave of the Court. And since then the selection process of the CCE, 2018 had been put on hold.

Talking to The Sentinel, APSC Chairman Pallab Bhattacharyya said, "With the direction issued by the Gauhati High Court on Friday, we can declare the CCE-M results and conduct the interview. The process will keep rolling now. After the interview, we'll inform the High Court of the process."

When asked as to when the CCE-M, 2018 results will be declared, Bhattacharyya said, "By next week."

According to sources, the APSC had to revise the results the preliminary examination, 2018 after it had come to know that a few 'answer keys' of the examinations were wrong. The revision of the results led to the inclusion of a few more candidates in the Main examination.

On behalf of the APSC its standing counsel senior advocate Tanmayjyoti Mahanta argued. He was assisted by Advocate Pankaj Dutta.

Senior Advocate Nilayananda Dutta is the amicus curiae in the case.