Gujarat high court orders appointment of 7 candidates dropped after re-evaluation by Gujarat Public Service Commission

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat high court has ordered the state govt to appoint seven candidates to the posts of deputy mamlatdar and deputy section officer, six years after they were selected for the job. They were not appointed to the posts after the Gujarat Public Service Commission (GPSC) rectified its answer key following re-evaluation of marks, rendering them failed. They fought a legal battle for the past five years.
According to case details, GPSC conducted recruitment for the posts in 2019, and a final merit list was published in Sep 2019. When GPSC called for applications for re-checking of marks, some unsuccessful candidates pointed out a mistake in an answer to one of the questions.
GPSC rectified it after obtaining expert opinion and accordingly reallocated the marks, changing the results in Jan 2020. In this process, 12 candidates who were earlier declared failed were selected. This resulted in the ouster of 12 successful candidates from the selection list.
Seven out of these 12 candidates, who were removed from the selection list, approached the HC and contended that the 2018 rules provided that GPSC can re-check the marks, but it cannot re-evaluate the answer sheets. The candidates also cannot demand re-evaluation. In this case, the appraisal of the question after the declaration of the result was nothing but re-evaluation in the absence of a statutory provision for the same.
The GPSC defended its position by citing the error in the answer key and asserted that the correction of results was required to uphold the integrity of the exam. It was also contended that the correction made was in the interest of genuinely deserving candidates and in the larger public interest.
A single-judge bench rejected the candidates' petition, and they appealed before a division bench. The division bench, on the basis of various judgments on this issue, stated that while corrective actions may appear justified in principle, adherence to statutory provisions and established legal precedents is crucial to maintaining procedural integrity and fairness in administrative processes.
"In light of the peculiar facts of the case, and in order to meet the ends of justice, we are of the considered opinion that the appellants cannot be denied the appointments. The present judgement and order shall be confined to the present appellants only, since they remained vigilant in pursuing the unlawful action," the HC said and ordered the govt to give appointments to the petitioners in six weeks. However, the HC made it clear that the services of those 12 candidates, who were declared successful subsequent to re-evaluation, should not be disturbed.