Delhi High Court
Sandhya & Ors. vs National Capital Territory Of ... on 23 March, 2021
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
% Date of decision: 23th March, 2021
+ W.P.(C) 3155/2021 & CM. No. 9579/2021
SANDHYA & ORS.
..... Petitioners
Through: Mr. Deepak Aggarwal and Mr. Anand
Landge, Advs.
versus
NATIONAL CAPITAL TERRITORY OF DELHI
& ANR.
..... Respondents
Through: Mrs. Avnish Ahlawat, Standing
Counsel with Mrs. Tania Ahlawat,
Mr. N.K. Singh and Ms. Palak
Rohmetra, Advs.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE V. KAMESWAR RAO
V. KAMESWAR RAO, J. (ORAL)
1. The present petition has been filed with the following
prayers:
"In view of foregoing, it is most respectfully prayed that:
a) Issue Writ of mandamus and/or any other appropriate
writ, order and/or direction in the nature thereof,
thereby directing the Respondents to quash and set
aside Notice dated 07.12.2020 issued by Respondent
No.2 whereby the Petitioners and other similarly situated
candidates were called for the Skill Test/Typing Test
for the post of Personal Assistant which was held from
29.12.2020 to 12.01.2021 in the various centers in the
interest of justice; and
Signature Not Verified
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b) Issue Writ of mandamus and/or any other appropriate
writ, order and/or direction in the nature thereof, thereby
directing to the Respondents to re-conduct the Skill/Typing
Test for the post of Personal Assistant which was held
from 29.12.2020 to 12.01.2021 in the various centers in the
interest of justice: and/or
c) Issue Writ of mandamus and/or any other appropriate
writ, order and/or direction in the nature thereof, thereby
directing to quash and set aside over all result of skill test
for the Post of Personal Assistant (PA) declared on
15.02.2021 by the Respondents in the interest of justice:
and/or
d) any other order(s), which this Hon'ble High Court may
deem fit and proper, under the facts and circumstances of
the case, may also be passed in favour of the petitioner and
against the Respondents."
2. It is noted from the petition that the Office of the District
and Session Judge (HQ) had issued an advertisement and common
instructions by way of public notice dated September 14, 2019 and
invited applications for the recruitment to the vacant posts of Senior
Personal Assistant, Personal Assistant, Junior Judicial Assistant and
Data Entry Operator for the Office of the District and Session Judge
(HQ) and Office of Principal Judge, Family Courts (HQ) New
Delhi. It is stated in the said advertisement, the Office of the
District and Session Judge (HQ) also issued common instructions to
the candidates regarding educational qualification, important dates
for the examination, skill test examination and general instructions.
In this regard, I shall reproduce the relevant clauses of the said
advertisement filed with the petition as Annexure-B. The relevant
clauses read as under:
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed By:ASHEESH
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13. EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION: - The details
regarding name of the post(s), post codes, Exam Mode &
educational qualifications as per the Recruitment Rules
provided are as under:
Sl. No. Post Code Exam Post Educational
Mode Qualification
01. A-1 Objective Test, Senior Personal Graduate with speed of
Descriptive Test, Assistant not less than 110 wpm in
Skill Test & shorthand and 40 wpm
Interview in typewriting.
02. A-2 Objective Test, Personal Graduate with speed of
Descriptive Test, Assistant not less than 100 words
Skill Test & per minute and typing
Interview speed of 40 words per
minute and having
knowledge of Computer.
17. Scheme of examination:-
Tier-1:- The Objective & Descriptive Test for the post
of Sr. Personal Assistant & Personal Assistant shall
contain Questions on General English & Comprehension,
General Knowledge (Including Current Affairs) and General
Intelligence which would be qualifying in nature. The merit
will be prepared on the basis of Descriptive Type Test.
Part Exam Type Subjects Questio Marks Duratio Total Total
ns n of Duration/Timing for Duration/Timing
Exam. General Candidates for(OL/BL
Candidates).
Part-I General 50 50 90 Minutes Duration:- 90 Minutes Duration:- 120
English Minutes
&
Comprehen
Objective sion
Part- Type (MCQ) General 20 20
II Knowledge
(including
Current
Affair)
Part- General 20 20
III Intelligence
Total 90 90
Part- Descriptive Essay (250 01 30 90 Minutes Duration:- 90 Duration:- 120
IV Type Words) Minutes Minutes
Part-V (English Grammar 25 25
Part-VI
Signature Not Verified Language) Translation 20 20
Digitally Signed By:ASHEESH
Signing Date:23.03.2021
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Total 75 75
Tier-1:- The Objective Test for the post of Junior Judicial
Assistant & Data Entry Operator shall contain Questions on
General English & Comprehension, General Knowledge
(Including Current Affairs) and General Intelligence.
Part Exam Type Subjects Questio Marks Duration of Total Duration/Timing Total
ns Exam. for General Candidates Duration/Timin
g for (OL/BL
Candidates).
Part-I General 60 60 120 Minutes Duration:- 120 Duration:- 160
English & Minutes Minutes
Comprehen
sion
Part- Objective General 30 30
II Type Knowledge
(including
Current
Affair)
Part- General 30 30
III Intelligence
Total 120 120
NOTE-I: Each question will carry 01 (one) mark. There shall
be 01 (one) mark for each correct answer. There shall be
negative marking of 0.25 marks for each wrong answer.
NOTE-II: Paper will consist of Objective Type-Multiple choice
questions only. The questions will be in English language
only.
NOTE-III: Paper will be intended to test the General
Aptitude/Suitability of the Candidates keeping in view the job
requirements.
NOTE-IV: There is no provision of re-evaluation/re-checking
of Answer Sheets. No request in this regard shall be
entertained.
NOTE-V: It will online examination and, therefore,
applicant is expected to know about the basic keys and input
commands of keyboard and mouse.
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed By:ASHEESH
Signing Date:23.03.2021
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Tier-II:-
Skill Test (Shorthand & Typing Test) for the posts of Sr.
Personal Assistant and Personal Assistant
For being qualified in the MCQ test, the candidates
(General Category) will have to score minimum of 50%
marks i.e. 45 Marks (50% of 90 Marks) and candidates
(under reserved category) will have to score minimum 45%
marks i.e. 40.50 Marks (45% of 90 Marks).
The MCQ test shall be only qualifying in nature and the
marks scored therein shall not be added in the final merit
list.
The descriptive test answer sheets of only such candidates
will be checked who are found to have qualified in
accordance with the criteria mentioned at point no. (i)
above.
The marks scored in the descriptive test shall be added in
the final merit list.
For qualifying the descriptive test (General Category)
candidates will have to score 50% marks i.e. 37.50 Marks
(50% of 75 Marks) and for candidates (under reserved
category will have to score minimum of 45% marks i.e.
33.75 Marks (45% of 75 Marks) subject to upper limit of 25
times of the total vacancies available.
Candidate found qualified in the descriptive test in
accordance with the criteria mentioned at point no. (ii) will
be called for the skill tests for the post of Sr. Personal
Assistant i.e. Shorthand test @ 110 w.p.m. and typing test
@ 40 w.p.m. and for the post of Personal Assistant
Shorthand test @ 100 w.p.m. and typing test @ 40 w.p.m.
This skill tests (Short hand test & Typing test) shall be
however qualifying in nature and marks scored therein will
not be added in the final merit list.
The passage of 550 words will be dictated in five (5)
minutes' duration for the post of Sr. Personal Assistant and
a passage of 500 words will be dictated in five (5) minutes'
Signature Not Verified duration for the post of Personal Assistant.
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Candidates will get only forty (40) minutes' duration to
transcribe the dictated passage on computers. No extra
time will be given for reading the passage.
Total number of mistakes permissible would be 4% of the
total words dictated, i.e., twenty two (22) for the post of Sr.
Personal Assistant and twenty (20) for the post of Personal
Assistant.
Each candidate will be given opportunity to appear in two
shorthand dictation and transcription tests and best of the
two will be considered and taken into consideration for
short-listing the candidates for Interview.
2. Skill Test (Typing Test) for the posts of Junior
Judicial Assistant & Data Entry Operator
The candidates who scored 50% marks for General
Category i.e. 60 Marks (50% of 120 Marks) and 45% marks
for Reserved Category candidates i.e. 54 Marks (45% of
120 Marks) in the Preliminary MCQ Test or 25 times of the
total vacancies (which ever will be minimum numbers) will
be called for the skill test i.e. typing test @ 40 w.p.m. This
skill test will be of qualifying in nature.
Tier-III:- Descriptive Test for the posts of Junior Judicial
Assistant & Data Entry Operator
The candidates who qualify the Skill Test will be called for
a "Descriptive Test" of English language (Total 100
Marks). It would consist of Essay (300 words=50 Marks),
Grammar (30 Marks) and Translation (25 words=20
Marks). Minimum passing marks for General Category
candidates will be 50% (i.e., 45 Marks out of 100 Marks).
Duration of the test will be of 120 Minutes.
The Descriptive test will be conducted for the posts of Sr.
Personal Assistant, Personal Assistant, Junior Judicial
Assistant, & Data Entry Operator. However, District &
Sessions Judge (HQ), Delhi reserves the right to modify or
dispense with any stage of the selection process, if deemed
appropriate especially in view of the number of applications
received for any particular post and as may be permissible
Signature Not Verified under Delhi District Court (Establishment) Rules, 2012.
Digitally Signed By:ASHEESH
Signing Date:23.03.2021
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Tier-IV:-
Interview of 10 Marks (for Maximum of ten times of the
total vacancies) will be conducted for the post of Sr.
Personal Assistant & Personal Assistant. The minimum
passing marks for General Category candidates will be 04
marks (40% of 10 marks) and for Reserved Category
(including PWD) candidates will be 3.5 Marks (35% of 10
marks).
Whereas, Interview of 30 Marks (for Maximum of ten times
of the total vacancies) will be conducted for the post of
Junior Judicial Assistant. The minimum passing marks for
General Category candidates will be 12 marks (40% of 30
marks) and for Reserved Category (including PWD)
candidates will be 10 Marks (round of) (35% of 30 marks).
Whereas, Interview of 35 Marks (for Maximum of ten times
of the total vacancies) will be conducted for the post of
Data Entry Operator. The minimum passing marks for
General Category candidates will be 14 marks (40% of 35
marks) and for Reserved Category (including PWD)
candidates will be 12 marks (round off) (35% of 35
marks)."
3. The petitioners herein had applied for the post of Personal
Assistant and the appropriate authority thereafter issued E-Admit
Cards for appearing in the Objective and Descriptive Examination
to be held on scheduled dates. The candidates including the
petitioners herein after being declared qualified in the Objective and
Descriptive Test were proceeded for the Tier-(ii) Examination Test
i.e. Skill Test (shorthand and typing test) by issuing Admit Cards.
4. As per a Notification issued by respondent no. 2 on
December 7, 2020, the candidates including the petitioners appeared
for the Skill Test in two shifts from December 29, 2020 to January
12, 2021 (on specified dates) at various notified centres. It is the
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed By:ASHEESH
Signing Date:23.03.2021
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case of the petitioners that on the various dates during the said
period spanning from December 12, 2020 to January 12, 2020,
when exam supervisors and moderators started the five minutes'
dictation passage, all the candidates including the petitioners
commonly raised grievance regarding clarity in voice, improper
sound system, interference of ambience sound, voice not being clear
and pronunciation in the dictation which was in American accent. It
is also stated that the candidates including the petitioners raised
grievances and requested the exam supervisors and moderators for
Indian accent dictation and pronunciation without interruption
which request was out-rightly turned down and rejected by them
without giving any opportunity for explanation. It is stated that
these issues were faced by the candidates including the petitioners
in the first shift as well as the second shift of the Skill Test
Examination.
5. It is the case of the petitioners that since December 29, 2020
i.e. after the examination of Skill Test, several similarly situated
candidates including the present petitioners raised similar or
identical complaints before the respondents specifically requesting
them to re-conduct the said Skill Test. Representations dated
December 29, 2020, January 4, 2021, January 12, 2021 and January
21, 2021 (Annexures E, F, G & H) were made by
candidates/petitioners to the respondent no. 2 reiterating to re-
conduct the said Skill Test by pointing out to specific defects such
as voice and pronunciation in the American accent dictation,
improper sound system, interference ambience sound and voice not
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed By:ASHEESH
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being clear. It is stated that the said representations have not been
considered by the respondents till date.
6. It is averred by the petitioners that without considering the
detailed representations preferred by them and several other
candidates, the respondents on February 15, 2021, declared the
Final Result of the Skill Test for the Post of Personal Assistant as
well as declared the final date of interview, as scheduled on March
13, 2021. It is submitted by the petitioners by relying upon result
dated February 15, 2021, only 15% of the candidates are qualified
for the interview.
7. The petitioners have relied upon a judgment of this Court in
W.P. (C) No. 332 of 2013 titled Ms. Shaloo Batra Vs. High Court
of Delhi, decided on February 01, 2013, wherein a similar issue was
raised by the petitioner therein, which was negated. Reliance has
also been placed on a judgment of the Punjab and Haryana High
Court W.P. (C) No. 12594 of 2018 titled Narender Sharma and
Ors. v. State of Haryana and Anr., decided on February 7, 2019.
8. It is stated by the petitioners and their counsel that petitioner
Nos. 10 & 21 when appeared for the Skill Text Examination for the
Post Senior Personal Assistant cleared the same with a shorthand
speed of 110 words per minute (wpm) whereas when the same
parties appeared for the Skill Test Examination for the Post of
Personal Assistant, their shorthand speed was 100 wpm and failed
in the same. This according to the petitioners is clearly indicative of
the arbitrariness in the Skill Test Examinations held from December
29, 2020 to January 12, 2021.
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed By:ASHEESH
Signing Date:23.03.2021
12:48:02
9. Counter-Affidavit has been duly filed on behalf of the
respondents. It is stated by the respondents that the present petition
is only confined to the Post of Personal Assistant Examination and
the educational qualification for the said Post is graduation with
knowledge of stenography at 100 wpm and typing speed at 40 wpm.
It is stated that as per the advertisement there were four different
phases/rounds of examination that were conducted being (i) 'On-
line' objective type test/MCQ test (ii) Descriptive Test (iii) Skill test
viz. stenography Test @ 100 wpm and Qualifying Typing Test @
40 wpm on computer (iv) Interview.
10. It is stated by the respondents that objective type/MCQ and
Descriptive Test for the post of Personal Assistant was conducted
on November 25, 2019. The Descriptive Test answer sheets of only
such candidates were checked who have qualified in the objective
test/MCQ test and the candidates who qualified the descriptive test
were called for the skill test viz. stenography test @ 100 wpm and
typing test @ 40 wpm. It is further stated that as per the
advertisement passage of 500 words was dictated in five minutes'
duration for the Post of Personal Assistant. The candidates
thereafter were given forty minutes' duration to transcribe the
dictated passage on the computer and no extra time was given to
read the passage. The permissible limit of mistakes was 4% of the
total words dictated, i.e. 20. Each candidate was given opportunity
to appear in two shorthand dictations and transcriptions tests and the
best of the two were considered for short-listing the candidates for
interview. The final merit of the successful candidates is prepared
on the basis of marks obtained in aggregate of each candidate's
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed By:ASHEESH
Signing Date:23.03.2021
12:48:02
performance in descriptive test and interview for the Post of
Personal Assistant.
11. It is stated by the respondents that total 12,214 numbers of
candidates along with the Petitioners had applied through 'on-line'
applications for the post of Personal Assistant. Accordingly, an
Objective Test/MCQ test and Descriptive Test of 90 marks and 75
marks respectively was successfully conducted on November 25,
2019. Out of total 12,214 candidates, 4522 candidates along with
the petitioners were declared as qualified in the aforesaid 'Objective
Test/MCQ Test & Descriptive Test' and thereafter they were called
to appear in the 'Skill Test' which was successfully conducted on
December 29 and 30, 2019 and January 08, 11 and 12, 2021 at the
above-mentioned examination centres in absolutely transparent, fair
and proficient manner. It is further stated that vide Minutes of
Meeting of the Recruitment Committee dated February 15, 2021
total 1022 candidates have qualified the typing test @ 40 wpm on
computer and accordingly answer sheets of stenography test of 1022
candidate were evaluated and out of 1022 candidates only 156
candidates have qualified the stenography test @ 100 wpm who
have committed mistakes not more than 4 per cent. Thus, out of
total 4522 candidates, 3029 candidates were present in the aforesaid
skill test and 1493 candidates were absent. Out of the total of 3029
candidates, 156 numbers of candidates were declared as qualified in
the aforesaid 'Skill Test' and the result of the same was declared on
February 15, 2021 on the website of the Delhi Districts Courts. In
this regard, the attention of this Court has been drawn to the minutes
Signature Not Verified
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of the meeting of Recruitment Committee dated February 15, 2021
placed on record as Annexure-R2.
12. It is stated by the respondents that the entire process of
conducting the Skill Test for the Post of Personal Assistant was
conducted in an efficient, fair and professional manner under the
supervision of the Recruitment Committee of Delhi District Courts.
It is stated that the Members of the said Committee and Judicial
Officers deputed as the court observers during the entire length of
the Skill Test themselves heard the dictation of the passage and the
same was found to be absolutely without any blemish and were also
clearly audible without any background disturbance at the right
pitch, Indian accent, tone and tenor. The various representations as
mentioned in paragraph above were placed before the Recruitment
Committee and the same was also shared with the outsourced
agency to examine each and every representation and to submit their
report. The Committee examined the responses/comments/reports
submitted by the outsourced agency and on a comprehensive
evaluation, the findings arrived at are the following:-
"a) The Committee records the fact that "Skill Test"
viz. stenography test @ 100 wpm on computer along
with typing test @ 40 wpm on computer was
conducted on 29.12.2020, 30.12.2020, 08.01.2021,
11.01.2021 & 12.01.2021 at Elbrus Assessment
Center, Saket, New Delhi, Shivam On-line Education
and Calibre Test Lab Pvt. Ltd. Patparganj Industrial
Area, New Delhi and Bhagwati E-Testing, Sector-63
Noida, U.P.
The Committee records the facts that each of the
above-mentioned examination centers were visited
Signature Not Verified
and properly inspected by the Members of the
Digitally Signed By:ASHEESH
Signing Date:23.03.2021
12:48:02
Committee prior to the conduct of the skill test
examination to assess the technical peripheral and
application of software besides effectiveness of the
sound/speaker system. Examination centers were
selected on the basis of their salient infrastructure
and basic facilities in the sphere of computer/laptop,
power backup, proper networking, sound public
address system, accessibility to the examination
centre and after considering its track record of
successfully conducting examinations in the past for
the various Government or semi-government
departments.
b) The Committee has examined the incident
reports submitted by the Judicial Officers who were
deputed at the examination centres as the court
"Observers" to supervise and oversee the
examination process, whenever there were any
complaints by the candidates at the centres which
clearly brings out that the skill tests were conducted
at the three examination centres in a hassle free and
fair manner. The Duty Roster of the Ld. Judges
including the members of the Committee who were
physically present and supervised the entire sessions.
c) The Committee Members have observed the fact
that the complaints with regard to the voice of the
speaker being of foreign accent was absolutely
without any foundation. Further, the complaints with
regard to "mishearing" of words was also not
tenable since the members of the Committee and Ld.
Judicial Officers deputed as the Observers themselves
heard the dictation of the passage and the same was
found to be absolutely without any blemish and were
also clearly audible without any background
disturbance with right kind of pitch. Merely because
few of the words were difficult or, complex by its
nature, cannot be a ground to afford any benefit to
the candidates who are expected to be well versed in
the English vocabulary. The Committee members are
of the view that complaints regarding mishearing of
Signature Not Verified words is probably on account of poor knowledge of
Digitally Signed By:ASHEESH
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12:48:02
English vocabulary resulting in the candidates not
being able to understand few difficult words in the
overall context of the passage dictated. The same
audio file was played across all the scheduled centres
in the specified shifts and the accent of the lady
speaker was typically north Indian one, and there was
no substance in the plea that the audio files were
downloaded from Google or, that it was of foreign
origin.
d) The Committee Members have also taken note of
the fact that so far as the complaints with regard to
technical glitches with the hardware, the candidates
were called inside the examination centers about 02
hour prior to the commencement of the skill
test/stenography test/typing test. The candidates were
given sufficient time to get familiar with the
Desktop/Laptop/Computer/Keyboards and Mouse,
and during the mock test/trial test time whenever or
whoever had any issue concerning the running of the
computer or keyboards and mouse; the same were
replaced in no time with no loss of time to the
candidates who encountered such glitches.
f) The Committee also records the fact that if
during the course of the skill test on the above-
mentioned dates there arose any issue concerning the
running of the software or the Keyboards/mouse not
functioning, each complaint was attended to
immediately by replacing the keyboards/mouse,
wherever necessary, and it was ensured that there
was no loss of stipulated time given to the candidates
to undergo the skill test/typing test for the post of
Personal Assistant.
g) The Committee also records that fact that
proper instructions regarding use of software, were
communicated to the candidates. The committee also
considered that fact that if any candidate raised
alarm with regard to system issue or working, the
candidate was shifted to another standby
Signature Not Verified sytem/desktop; and as soon as the candidate shifted to
Digitally Signed By:ASHEESH
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another system and started the exam, the digital clock
started from the time candidate left the earlier typing
with the earlier typed material saved in the system.
This did not occasion or result in any loss of time or
shortage/deficiency in the stipulated time. In general,
during the course of the exam, if there was any system
breakdown, the candidate was provided another
standby system in the same lab and the extra time was
calculated based on the re-login time i.e. breakdown
time-re-logging time. Hence if there was any system
problem reported, then same was promptly attended
and the candidate was shifted to another system and
extra time was added automatically.
Further, the candidates were given two dummy
dictions during the course of the preparatory phase of
the skill test so as to make them familiar with the
accent, speech, tone and pitch of the speaker before
subjecting them to final test dictation. The schedule
of the whole skill test has been drawn in such a
manner so as to give a great degree of comfort level
to the candidates and facilitate them to attempt their
skill test in a hassle free manner.
In view of the aforesaid deliberations, the Committee
does not find any merit in the
representation/complaints. All the representations
are found to be wrong and without any substance.
The Committee is of the view that a feeble attempt is
being made by some candidates by raising
unnecessary complaints to derail the process after
successful completion of the Skill examination. The
Committee is fully satisfied that the entire
examination process of the skill test for the post of
Personal Assistant (PA) held on the mentioned dates
was conducted in hassle free, fair, transparent,
smooth, efficient and in a disciplined manner.
Accordingly, all the above-mentioned representations
as well as any other representations/complaints by
the candidates on similar grounds are unanimously
rejected."
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed By:ASHEESH
Signing Date:23.03.2021
12:48:02
13. It is stated by the respondents that the prayers as sought for
in the present petition cannot be granted in view of the judgment of
the Apex Court in Madan Lal & Ors. v. State of J&K & Ors., 1995
(3) SCC 486, wherein it is inter-alia held that if a candidate takes a
calculated chance and appears for the interview, then, only because
the result of the interview is not palatable to him, cannot turn
around and subsequently contend that the process of interview was
unfair. Similarly, reliance has also been placed on the Apex Court
judgment in Anupal Singh & Ors. v. State of Uttar Pradesh &
Ors., 2020 (2) SCC 173, wherein the Apex Court inter-alia held
that a person having consciously participated in the interview
cannot turn around and challenge the selection process.
14. By relying upon Dhananjay Malik & Ors. v. State of
Uttaranchal and ors., 2008 (4) SCC 171, it is also submitted by the
respondents that in the absence of any protest prior to participations
or having established any illegality in the Skill Test, it is not
permissible under the law, to be re-conducted. Moreover, it is also
stated that complaints or, newspaper reports by themselves could
not be considered to be adequate to confirm the allegations of the
petitioners (Ref: Ramchandra Murarilal Bhattad & Ors. v. State of
Maharastra & Ors., 2007 (2) SCC 588).
15. Having heard the learned counsels for the parties and
perused the record, a short question which arises for consideration is
whether the Skill Test (shorthand and typing test) held for making
appointments to the post of Personal Assistant between December
29, 2020 and January 12, 2021 needs to be quashed and a direction
Signature Not Verified needs to be issued to the respondents to re-conduct the same.
Digitally Signed By:ASHEESH
Signing Date:23.03.2021
12:48:02
16. The case of the petitioners is that in furtherance to the
selection process, the respondents have conducted the Skill Test
(shorthand and typing test) during the period mentioned above in
three centres, i.e., Patparganj, Saket and NOIDA. The grievance of
the petitioners is that on the Exam Supervisors and Moderators
started the five minutes' dictation passage, all the candidates
including the petitioners raised grievances regarding clarity in
voice, improper sound system, interference of ambience sound,
voice not being clear and pronunciation in the dictation being in
American accent. A request was made for Indian accent dictation
and pronunciation without interruption which was turned down.
The counsel for the petitioners in support of his submissions has
drawn my attention to the representations made by the petitioners /
candidates to the respondents. The aforesaid representations were
placed before the Recruitment Committee which also sought a
report from the outsourced agency. The Committee examined the
responses / comments submitted by the outsourced agency as well
and on considering the same has arrived at a conclusion which I
have reproduced above. The following is seen from the conclusion
arrived at by the Committee, (i) members of the Committee and
Judicial Officers who were deputed as Court Observers had heard
the dictation of the passage and the same was found to be absolutely
without any blemish. The same was audible without any
disturbance, at the right pitch and with Indian accent; (ii) the centres
were selected on the basis of their infrastructure and basic facilities
in the sphere of computer / laptop, power back-up, proper
networking and sound public address system etc.; (iii) the report
Signature Not Verified submitted by the Judicial Officers who were appointed as Court
Digitally Signed By:ASHEESH
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Observers reveal that the Skill Test was conducted at the centres in
hassle free and in fair manner; and (iv) The foreign accent was
absolutely without any foundation and the complaints of mishearing
of words are also not tenable.
17. Merely few words were difficult or complex by its nature
cannot be a ground to afford any benefit to the candidates who are
expected to be well-versed in English vocabulary. The complaints
regarding mishearing of words is probably on the ground of poor
knowledge of the English vocabulary resulting in the candidates not
understanding words in the overall passage of the dictation. The
same audio was played across all the centres in specified shifts and
the accent of the lady speaker was North Indian. Each candidate, as
per the pattern, was given opportunity to appear in two shorthand
dictations and transcription tests and the best of the two was
considered for short-listing the candidates for interview. In fact, I
note from the Recruitment Committee report that the candidates
were given two dummy dictations during the course of the
preparatory phase of the Skill Test, so as to make them familiar with
the accent, speech, tone and pitch of the speaker before subjecting
them to final test dictation.
18. The stand of the respondents has not been controverted by
the petitioners by filing a rejoinder affidavit. Be that as it may,
from the above it is noted that the grievance of the petitioners about
glitches in audio, accent, mishearing has been considered by the
Recruitment Committee threadbare and found that there was no
defect in the conduct of the same. No doubt, the petitioners /
Signature Not Verified candidates had made representations at the earliest opportunity, but
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that by itself shall not depict any deficiency / defects in the conduct
of the Skill Test, more so in view of the conclusion arrived at by the
Recruitment Committee by considering the report submitted by the
observers and also by the outsourced agency. That apart, I note that
3029 candidates were called for Skill Test / Typing Test, which is a
qualifying exam requiring a candidate to have a speed of 100 w.p.m.
(Shorthand) and 40 w.p.m. (Typing) on computer. Around 156
candidates have qualified the Skill Test and are called for interview,
as they have not committed more than 4% mistakes. Surely, those
candidates, who are successful in the Skill Test / Typing Test, do
not have any problem in comprehending the dictation and accent.
The committee should be right in its conclusion that the issue of
audio, mishearing, accent may be peculiar to some candidates, who
may not be well-versed with the English vocabulary. I may also
state here that during the course of hearing, I had directed the
respondents to produce the audio file, which was played at the time
of test. The same was produced and played in the Court and I found
that the voice / audio and accent of the speaker had no deficiency /
defect and each word was clearly deciphered / understood. There
cannot be any defect in the conduct of the skill test.
19. On the asking of the Court, Mrs. Ahlawat has filed a sealed
cover giving the break-up of the successful candidates in each of the
centres, under the signatures of Branch, In-Charge, Recruitment
Cell, Office of the Principal District & Sessions Judge, (HQs),
Delhi.
20. This Court has opened the sealed cover, which contains a
statement of centre wise percentage of qualified candidates in
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Personal Assistant Skill Test, apart from the copy of reports
submitted by the observers. I have perused the same and it is
evident from the break-up that 2072, 1190 and 1260 candidates
were to appear before the ELBRUS Assessment Centre, Saket,
Bhagvati E-Testing centre (Noida) and Shivam Online Education
(Patparganj Centre) respectively on various specified dates.
However, a total of 694, 384 and 415 candidates were absent on
various dates at the aforesaid three centres. Remaining 1378, 806
and 845 candidates appeared for Skill Test at the ELBRUS
Assessment Centre, Saket, Bhagvati E-Testing (Noida Centre) and
Shivam Online Education (Patparganj Centre) respectively. A total
of 156 candidates qualified in both the Typing and Shorthand test
components from the three centres with 44 from ELBRUS
Assessment Centre, Saket, 60 from Bhagvati E-Testing centre
(Noida) and 52 from Shivam Online Education (Patparganj Centre).
It is noted from the statement that the centre wise percentage of
qualified candidates in Personal Assistant Skill Test turn out to be
2.12 percentage at ELBRUS Assessment Centre, Saket; 5.04
percentage at Bhagvati E-Testing centre (Noida); and 4.13
percentage at Shivam Online Education (Patparganj Centre) out of
the total candidates. No doubt, the statement reveals that the
numbers of successful candidates are the least in Saket Centre, but
the difference amongst the three centres is not so highly
disproportionate to make me conclude, that the difference is because
of the alleged glitches in the audio system or American accent.
21. In any case, the contention of the learned counsel for the
petitioners falls within the realm of disputed facts, which cannot be
Signature Not Verified gone into in writ proceedings.
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22. Suffice to state, the reasoning given by the Committee is
plausible one and the same needs to be accepted, more so, when the
petitioners have not controverted the said stand. Moreover, the
petitioners having failed in the Skill Test (shorthand and typing test)
have not brought to the notice of the Court whether Skill Test can
be directed to be re-conducted when such a procedure is not
contemplated in the Recruitment Rules. This I say so, de-hors the
finding of the Recruitment Committee that no illegality has taken
place in the conduct of the Skill Test.
23. Having said that, the petitioners have relied upon the
Judgment of the Division Bench of this Court, in Ms. Shaloo Batra
& Ors., (supra), to which I was a party to contend that a re-test
needs to be conducted as was decided by the Authorities in that
matter. I may note here that the said judgment is of no help to the
petitioners for the reasons that firstly, the decision to conduct the re-
test was set aside by this Court on the ground that the Recruitment
Rules does not permit so; secondly, no rule has been brought to my
notice if the Skill Test / Typing Test held is illegal, then the Rule
contemplates, a re-test can be conducted. In the absence of a Rule,
surely no direction for conducting the Skill Test can be given; and
thirdly, even otherwise no such direction can be given in view of the
decision of the Recruitment Committee which clearly held that there
was no illegality in the conduct of the Skill Test. Reliance has also
been placed by the learned Counsel for the petitioners on the
Judgment of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Narender
Sharma (supra) to contend that the Court has given a direction to
conduct the Skill Test / Typing Test afresh. I am afraid, the said
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Judgment would not be applicable in the facts of this case when the
so called infirmities alleged by the petitioners in the conduct of Skill
Test / Typing Test have been gone into threadbare by the
Recruitment Committee which found that no such infirmities had
occurred.
24. In view of my above discussion, I do not find any merit in
the petition. The same is dismissed.
CM. No. 9579/2021
Dismissed as infructuous.
V. KAMESWAR RAO, J
MARCH 23, 2021/jg
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Digitally Signed By:ASHEESH
Signing Date:23.03.2021
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