High Court orders probe into ‘shoddy work’ of HSSC officials in selection of pharmacists

CHANDIGARH: Coming down heavily on the Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC) for its “shoddy work” in the selection process of pharmacists, the Punjab and Haryana high court has ordered the commission to hold an inquiry to find the erring officials responsible for preparing such result.
HC has also imposed an exemplary cost of Rs 50,000 on the commission for putting unnecessary burden of litigation cost on the petitioner.It has also directed that the probe finding be placed before the court within four months.
Justice Rajiv Narain Raina passed these orders while allowing a petition filed by Mohd Irshad, a resident of Mewat. Irshad worked as a pharmacist in government institution for seven years and should have been awarded 14 marks (2 for each year) by the commission in accordance to the rules. However, the commission gave him only 2 marks for his experience, due to which he could not be selected on the post of pharmacist for which the final result was declared on February 9, 2018.
“This episode exposes the shoddy work of the commission. It raises doubt about its credibility... and there is every possibility of mistakes like this creeping in the results of all categories of posts,” Justice Raina observed in its orders released on Thursday.
Allowing the petition, filed by the petitioner through his counsel Mazlish Khan, the HC directed HSSC to forward the petitioner’s name to the government for appointment.
HC has passed these orders after the Haryana government conceded on March 8 that there has been a mistake in awarding only two marks to the petitioner for experience when he should have been given 14. The commission rectified its mistake. Earlier, the petitioner was awarded 110 marks against the cut off marks at 119. With the rectification, the petitioner would secure 122 marks and make the cut with his name in the select list of successful candidates to be recommended for appointment.
Giving details of the case, Khan said that in June 2015, HSSC had advertised over 100 posts for selection of pharmacists in Haryana. The petitioner had applied under the BC-B category and cleared the written examination held in January 2017 and appeared in interviews held in September 2017.