Candidates challenge disqualification in Urdu test
Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, Sept 25: In a significant development, the J&K High Court has stayed finalization of the selection for the posts of Naib Tehsildar and issued notices to the State Government as well as the Services Selection Board for filing objections.
The stay has been granted by Justice Tashi Rabstan of J&K High Court, Jammu, in a writ petition filed by aggrieved candidates Aman Deep Singh and others through their Counsel, Advocate Abhinav Sharma challenging the impugned result of the exam conducted by SSB for testing ‘Working Knowledge of Urdu’ for the post of Naib Tehsildar, pursuant to Advertisement notification number 01 of 2015, dated 07-04-2015.
Serving notices to Commissioner/Secretary Revenue Department, J&K Services Selection Board Chairman and Secretary SSB through Additional Advocate General Amit Gupta and Dy Advocate General K D S Kotwal, respectively, the High Court granted four weeks’ time to file objections and listed next date of hearing on November 15, 2019.
Pertinent to mention that a big number of meritorious aspirants for the post of Naib Tehsildar have been rejected by the J&K Services Selection Board for not qualifying ‘Working Knowledge of Urdu Test’. Among the total number of 817 candidates, who were declared qualified on the basis of merit in the written examination for the post , 126 of them have been rejected because they could not secure qualifying marks (40 percent) in the Urdu test, the result of which was declared on September 4 by the SSB. More shocking is the fact that out of these 126 disqualified candidates, 122 belong to Jammu region and only four from Kashmir valley, who could not qualify the first ever such kind of Urdu Test for the post of Naib Tehsildar.
Daily Excelsior had carried an exclusive news story in its September 6 issue on disqualification of such a big number of meritorious aspirants from Jammu for the post of Naib Tehsildar. For the 155 number of posts of Naib Tehsildar, more than 75 thousand candidates across Jammu and Kashmir had applied and 817 of them were declared qualified on the basis of merit.
Challenging their disqualification through a Writ Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioners urged the court to restrain the respondent Government from issuing the final selection list for the post of Naib Tehsildar till their claim for selection notwithstanding their aggregate 33 percent marks in the test for working knowledge of Urdu is considered and decided.
The petitioners, through their Counsel Abhinav Sharma, pleaded before the court that they have qualified the Objective type written test conducted by SSB on 29-04-2018 and despite they secured equal or more than 33 percent qualifying marks in the ‘Working Knowledge of Urdu’ test, they have been declared disqualified because their aggregate marks are not 40 percent.
In the Urdu test, there were two papers of 50 marks each, one of Multiple Choice Questions and the other of Descriptive nature. Even as minimum 33 percent was qualifying percentage in each paper, the candidate was finally required to score at least 40 percent aggregate marks for being declared as qualified. There are some candidates, who have qualifying Multiple Choice Questions paper as well as the Descriptive one but have been declared ‘disqualified’ as their total aggregate percentage is below 40.
Further, the petitioners said, as per the Advertisement notice, the prescribed qualification for the said post of Naib Tehsildar was ‘Graduate with knowledge of Urdu’ but this term was not defined. When the rules provide for ‘knowledge of Urdu’, it simply means some knowledge of Urdu and SSB has no power or authority to replace this provision of law with its own terminology ‘Working Knowledge of Urdu’, they added.
The petitioners also pointed out that never in the past has there been such practice of conducting written test of Urdu for selection to the post of Naib Tehsildar, and it was only after selection/appointment that selectees/appointees were imparted some knowledge of Urdu.
Considering the Writ Petition, Justice Tashi Rabstan discharged the caveat filed by SSB and ordered that subject to objections and till next date before the Bench, the respondents shall not finalize the selection for the post of Naib Tehsildar pursuant to the Advertisement notification number 01 of 2015, dated 07-04-2015.
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