Patna high court seeks defence ministry reply in Army recruitment row

Patna: The Patna high court on Tuesday took suo motu cognisance of the pictures published in a newspaper showing candidates dressed only in their underwear at Chakkar Maidan in Muzaffarpur and appearing at an examination for recruitment in the Army on Sunday. Altogether 1,159 candidates wrote the test conducted by the Army Regional Office (ARO) in Muzaffarpur for the recruitment of clerks in the Army.
After advocate Dinu Kumar mentioned to the court about the report published in a newspaper, a division bench of acting Chief Justice Iqbal Ahmed Ansari and Justice Chakradhari Saran Singh used it as a PIL and directed the secretary, ministry of defence, to file his reply as to why the candidates appearing at Army recruitment examination at Muzaffarpur, around 70km from Patna, were asked to remove their clothes and sit in their undergarments allegedly to prevent cheating. The matter will come up for hearing on April 6.
Narendra Kumar, 20, who had also appeared at the examination, confirmed that they were asked to remove all their clothes. "We were frisked at the main gate before being allowed to move inside the enclosed area. The Army officers on duty asked us to remove all clothes, except our undergarments and some of us who showed reluctance were asked to leave. We had no option but to remove our clothes as the officers were heard saying that if we were allowed to wear clothes, we might indulge in cheating," Kumar was quoted in the newspaper report. "Since all of us were boys, we forgot everything after a few minutes and got engrossed in the examination," Kumar had reportedly told the newspaper, adding that his elder brother had faced a similar situation a couple of years ago when he appeared at an examination at Ara for recruitment in the Army.
According to agencies report, director (recruitment) at the Army Regional Office (ARO) in Muzaffarpur, Col V S Godra, told reporters that it was a preventive measure against cheating. "We did not insult anybody or subject anyone to cruelty ... no examinee complained, so why outsiders are making a hue and cry over the matter?" Godra wondered.