Court Orders Halt in JKSSB Selection Process, Seeks Report in 10 Days
Srinagar: The High Court of JK and Ladakh on Thursday directed a High-Level Committee, constituted to review the functioning of the Jammu and Kashmir Service Selection Board (JKSSB), to submit its report within a period of ten days.
Hearing a plea, a bench of Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi also directed JKSSB not to proceed with the selection process of various posts advertised by it.
The selection process has been halted till a final decision is taken by the government on the report/recommendations made by the High-Level Committee which was appointed to review the board’s functioning, court observed.
The Committee was constituted on April 22 to examine whether the process of tendering followed by JKSSB, in selecting M/S Aptech Ltd. to conduct the examinations, was consistent with the extant Financial Rules/Acts, and, if all the relevant norms were fully complied with.
“The Review Committee constituted in terms of Government Order No. 487-JK (GAD) of 2023 dated 22.04.2023, shall submit its report within a period of ten days from the date of passing of this judgment,” the court said.
The Chief Secretary, the court said, shall take a decision on the basis of the report and recommendations made by the Review Committee within a period of ten days thereafter.
The court said that the review committee shall take a decision on the basis of the report and recommendations made by the Review Committee within a period of ten days thereafter. “The decision of the Chief Secretary shall be communicated to the Secretary, JKSSB, who is directed to proceed strictly in accordance with the decision taken by the Government. However, till the final decision is taken by the Government, the JKSSB shall not proceed with the selection process,” court said.
In their petition, 40 petitioners had sought the court’s intervention for a fair process of recruitment.They not only sought fairness by the recruiting agency but also by the agency conducting the examination.
The court observed that petitioners raised the Orwellian concern about the alleged possibility of modern technology being misused and abused by M/s Aptech Limited and others. Regarding Aptech Limited, the petitioners had contended that it has “tainted past record and has also been blacklisted once.”
The petitioners had responded to the advertisement for various examinations to be conducted by the JKSSB. (Kashmir Life/ Agencies)
