news details |
|
|
| Ensure Transparency | | |
The Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board or JKSSB has deferred all the computer-based written tests (CBT) scheduled to start from March 16. While no reason has been assigned for deferring the examinations, the announcement comes as a shot in the arm for many aspirants who have been protesting against the hiring of a previously black-listed company. The announcement to defer the exams also comes barely a day after the JKSSB announced all arrangements have been put in place to ensure a “fair and transparent” exam.
It had also announced that a third party has been hired to review the examination process of CBTs to ensure exam that is free from any malpractice. As has been reported by this newspaper, the exam was deferred at the instance of the intervention by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister, Amit Shah. As and when held, the concerned authorities must ensure transparency as is imperative under Articles 14 and 16 which mandate that selection processes conducted by public authorities to make recruitments have to be fair, transparent and accountable.
Selection involves intense competition and there is no dearth of individuals who try and bend the rules to gain an unfair leap in the race.
The Supreme Court of India has underscored that all too often, human fallibility and foibles intrude into the selection processes. Irregularities in the process give rise to misgivings over whether the process has denied equal access to all persons. The sanctity of the selection process comes under a cloud. The detection of individual wrongdoing by candidates may result in action being taken to exclude those whose credentials or performance is tainted. But when the entire process is tainted, the authority in charge of conducting it may decide to cancel the selection as a whole. Judicial review is then invoked to challenge the decision to cancel the entire process, the Apex court has held.
The guiding principles have evolved over the past several decades as new challenges emerged and novel attempts to suborn the legitimacy of recruitment processes have come to the fore over the years. There is need to preserve public confidence and the sanctity of selection to public posts and the requirement of observing fairness to candidates who invest time and resources in attempting to clear through a selection. Both these considerations have a constitutional foundation going beyond service and administrative law principles. It is imperative of the authorities to ensure transparency and fairness all the time. Any breach only shakes the public confidence. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
