Uttarakhand High Court
WPSS/2472/2022 on 9 January, 2023
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WPSS No. 2472 of 2022
Hon'ble Manoj Kumar Tiwari, J.
Mr. Ayush Gaur. Advocate, holding
brief of Mr. Dushyant Mainali, Advocate,
for the petitioner.
Mr. V.S. Rawat, Brief Holder for the
State of Uttarakhand.
Mr. Ashish Joshi, Advocate for
respondent no. 2.
Heard learned counsel for the
parties.
Petitioner participated in a selection
for the post of Lecturer (History) held by
Uttarakhand Public Service Commission,
pursuant to advertisement dated
09.10.2020, however, he was declared
unsuccessful. In this writ petition,
petitioner has challenged the result
declared by Commission in respect of
History subject.
The sole ground of challenge is that
answers to certain questions, as given in
the answer key uploaded by the
Commission it its website, are incorrect
and, due to those wrong answers,
petitioner's score of marks was
substantially reduced, consequently,
candidates, who would have otherwise
scored lesser marks than the petitioner,
have stolen a march on the petitioner
and they have been recommended for
appointment. Petitioner has raised the
issue of wrong answers in the answer
key in respect of question nos. 79, 101 &
197 of Set 'A' of the question paper.
Learned counsel for the
respondents, however, submit that
correctness of answers, as given in the
answer key, cannot be gone into by this
Court while exercising power of judicial
review under Article 226 of Constitution.
Reliance has been placed upon the
judgment rendered by Hon'ble Supreme
Court in the case of Vikesh Kumar Gupta
Vs. State of Rajasthan, reported in
(2021) 2 SCC 309. Judgment dated
07.07.2022 rendered by this Court in
WPSS No. 481 of 2022 with connected
petitions has also been relied upon.
Learned counsel for the Selecting
Body further submits that soon after
holding of the written test, provisional
answer key was uploaded on the website
and options were invited from all
concerned regarding correctness of the
answers so uploaded. He submits that it
is nowhere mentioned in the writ petition
that petitioner had filed objection in
respect of correctness of the answers.
Thus, he submits that petitioner cannot
now question correctness of answers to
those questions. He further submits that
names of the selected candidates have
been recommended for appointment to
the State Government and the process
for appointing the selected candidates is
on. He, thus, submits that any
interference with the matter at this stage
would not be proper, as then the entire
merit list of the selection in question
would be disturbed.
This Court finds substance in the
submission made by learned counsel for
the respondents. Objections received
from candidates in respect of answers,
as given in the provisional answer key,
are referred to the Expert Committee
and, based on the recommendation
made by the Expert Committee, the
Selecting Body takes a call regarding
correctness of a particular answer. It
was open for the petitioner to file
objection at the appropriate time, but he
failed to do so. Which answer is correct
answer to a question is an issue which
can only be decided by the Subject
Experts. This Court cannot go into merits
of the opinion given by Experts
constituting the Committee for want of
expertise in the subject.
Even otherwise also, the opinion
given by Experts and decision taken by
Commission pursuant thereto would be
for all the candidates. It is not the case
of petitioner that the opinion of the
Experts or the decision taken by
Commission is infected with malice or ill-
will. Commission is a specialized body for
holding selection to different superior
services in the State. A decision taken by
Commission in bonafide exercise of
power can be interfered with, only if it is
arbitrary or is in violation of settled
norms of fair play in action or is in
violation of any provision of law.
Thus, there is no scope for
interference. Accordingly, the writ
petition fails and is dismissed.
(Manoj Kumar Tiwari, J.)
09.01.2023
Arpan
