Dhrubajyoti Nath and 2 Ors v. The State of Assam and 3 Ors

ORDER Date : 27/06/2023

Heard Mr. H.K. Das, learned counsel for the writ petitioners in WP(C) 3662/2023 and Mr. K.P. Pathak, learned counsel in WP(C) 3801/2023. I have also heard Mr. T. J. Mahanta, learned senior counsel assisted by Ms. P. Sarma, learned counsel appearing for the APSC and Mr. J.K. Goswami, Page No.# 3/3 learned Additional Senior Government Advocate, Assam, appearing for the official respondents. The petitioners in this batch of writ petitions had participated in the Combined Competitive (Prelims) Examination, 2022, conducted by the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) in terms of the advertisement No. 26/2022 dated 22/12/2022. The Preliminary Examination consisted of 2 (two) papers , viz. General Studies Paper-I of 200 marks with 100 questions and General Studies Paper-II for 200 marks of 80 questions. The qualifying marks of GS Paper-I was fixed at 33% but there was no qualifying marks for GS Paper-II, though there were cut off mark. In both these writ petitions, the petitioners were denied marks on account of the fact that they had not properly darken in the OMR sheets indicating the correct series despite clear instruction given by the APSC. Mr. Mahanta, learned senior counsel for the APSC has relied upon the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court rendered in the case of The State of Tamil Nadu and others Vs. G. Hemalatha and others reported in 2019 (5) ALT 103 to submit that failure on the part of the candidate to follow the instructions of the Commission cannot be modified or relaxed. As such, no relief an be granted to the petitioners in these cases. Mr. Das, learned counsel for the petitioner has also fairly submitted that similar view has been taken by the Division Bench of this Court in the case of Assam Public Service Commission and another Vs. Izaz Yusuf Ahmed and another reported in 2019(3) GLT 754, wherein it has been held that non-marking of answers due to improper darkening of OMR sheet, cannot be a matter of judicial scrutiny. If that be so, this Court is of the opinion that no relief can be granted to the petitioners at this stage since it is the admitted position of fact that they had failed to properly darken the series pertaining to the OMR sheets, as a result of which, their answers were not evaluated properly by the Computer. Situated thus, these writ petitions are held to be devoid of any merit and are accordingly dismissed.

JUDGE

sukhamay Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/3 GAHC010136602023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/3662/2023 DHRUBAJYOTIoNATHoANDo2oORS. SONoOFoSRIoBROJENDRAoNATH o RESIDENToOFoVILLAGE-oKOKIRA o P.O.-oBALBALA o DISTRICT-oGOALPARA oPIN-o783120 o ASSAM. 2:oMONOJoDAS SONoOFoLATEoKHAGENoDAS o RESIDENToOFoBELTOLAoTINIALI o NEARoSHIVoMANDIR oHOUSEoNO.o74 o PIN-o781028 oGUWAHATI oASSAM. o3:oPRANABoJYOTIoSARANIA SONoOFoSRIoBINAYoSARANIA o RESIDENToOFoCHITRANAGAR oWARDoNO.o4 oTANGLA o UDALGURI oPIN-o784521 Page No.# 2/3 ASSAM. VERSUS THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 3 ORS REPRESENTED BY THE COMMISSIONER AND SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNMENT OF ASSAM PERSONNEL(A) DEPARTMENT DISPUR GUWAHATI-6. 2:THE ASSAM PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION REPRESENTED BY ITS CHAIRMAN JAWAHARNAGAR KHANAPARA GUWAHATI-22. 3:THE SECRETARY ASSAM PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION JAWAHARNAGAR KHANAPARA GUWAHATI-22. 4:THE PRINCIPAL CONTROLLER OF EXAMINATION ASSAM PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION JAWAHARNAGAR KHANAPARA GUWAHATI-22. ------------ Advocate for : MR H K DAS Advocate for : GA ASSAM appearing for THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 3 ORS BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SUMAN SHYAM