Selection of college lecturers: HC summons HPPSC records

The HPPSC had advertised for five posts of lecturer (college cadre) in Chemistry,out of which,three posts were reserved for the visually-impaired. Only Shyam Lal and another person suffering from orthopedic disability had applied for the posts. Though no post was reserved for a candidate with orthopedic disability,yet his candidature was considered and he was interviewed. When the mistake was realised,the entire selection process was cancelled.

Aggrieved by the cancellation,Shyam Lal had filed a writ petition in the high court,which ordered the Commission to finalise the selection as per the process already commenced and interview held.

However,the HPPSC declared the result of the appellant as unsuccessful as he had securing less marks than prescribed.

The court has directed the HPPSC chairman to file affidavit as to whether the selection committee had fixed any guidelines/parameters to assess the merit of the candidates and if so,what were those parameters. It also directed him to state in the affidavit how many vacancies are to be filled up in various cadres from physically-challenged candidates and what steps have been taken in this regard.

In its earlier order,the court had observed that it was shocking to judicial conscience as how the petitioner,who has been a teacher in the subject for over 15 years,was awarded such poor marks despite him being a postgraduate and also holding a MPhil and a PhD in Chemistry.