Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 12: High Court has stayed the selection process of House Surgeons in Dental College Jammu.
Challenging the selection process, Advocate Abhinav Sharma appearing for the petitioner submitted that petitioner had secured 79.4 marks in the discipline of Oral Medicine and Radiology but a candidate namely Shalija Malhotra with 78.4 marks has been selected and the merit of the petitioner has been ignored.
With regard to the discipline of Pedodontics, which was her third preference, she had secured 79.3 marks, whereas selected candidates, namely Komal Sharma and Rehana Tabassum had secured 77.5 and 75.5 marks respectively.
The State Counsel, on the other hand, relied upon notification dated 18.05.2016 and said that the notification reflects that the allotment of the department would be decided by the committee on the basis of overall merit/rank/preference of the candidates indicated in the application form as per Government Order No. 706-HME of 2007 dated 11.01.2007.
The counsel for the respondents further stated that Shalija Malhotra was selected over the petitioner even when the respondent had secured less merit than the petitioner on the ground that she had reflected her first preference as Oral Medicine and Radiology as against the petitioner who had reflected the same as her second preference. Similarly, two more respondents were selected over the petitioner in the discipline of Pedodontics which was their first preference and the petitioner’s third.
After hearing Advocate Abhinav Sharma appearing for the petitioner whereas Deputy AG PS Chandel appearing for the Health Department, Justice D S Thakur observed, “it appears that official respondents have misunderstood and mis-applied advertisement notification dated 20.05.2016, where under the selection has to be made on the basis of merit/ rank/ preference”, adding “official respondents appear to have given more weightage to the preference than the merit while making the selection in which the petitioner was even more meritorious than the selected candidates in two disciplines”.
“Prima facie, a case has been made out by the petitioner for interference”, Justice Thakur said and ordered that process of selection of House Surgeons in Dental College Jammu initiated pursuant to notification dated 20.05.2016 shall remain stayed.
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