Srinagar: The J&K High Court on Tuesday directed Jammu and Kashmir Service Selection Board (JKSSB) to redraw the final selection list of teachers by assigning appropriate points to all the relevant qualifications of candidates who missed to fill it in an online application form.
The Court of Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey and Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul recorded that the origin of the controversy lies in the format of the application form of the Board for the selection process.
“This is so because the column relating to qualification, as appeared in the online application form, had shown B. Ed/ M. Ed and the candidates, by mentioning the higher qualification of M.Ed, obviously and clearly meant that they had already obtained B.Ed qualification without which they could not have acquired the higher M.Ed qualification,” the court said.
The court while giving reference to the previous High Court verdict said, “The question that arises for consideration is as to whether petitioner be deprived of her legitimate right for her omission to bubble the relevant field while submitting her application form? The answer would obviously be an emphatic.”
“No. Error of whatever nature cannot be allowed to form a ground of maring somebody’s future. As is said to err is human, the mistakes are an inseparable part of the human species, therefore, what is to be seen is as to whether such mistakes can be rectified,” the court recorded.
Earlier, JKSSB in an advertisement notification dated 28 December, 2017 had invited application for the posts of teachers to be filled. Accordingly, the petitioners had submitted the application forms but had omitted some qualifications by which their merit came low.
On the basis of this, the court directed JKSSB to assign appropriate points to all the relevant qualifications omitted by the Writ petitioners in their online application forms, including the qualification of B. Ed, to the credit of the Writ petitioners, “of course, in case the same have been acquired by these petitioners prior to the last cut-off date of the advertisement notice concerned,” court directed.
The court also directed the Board to evaluate their merit on the basis of such award of points and redraw the final selection list for the posts in question, accordingly.
“This exercise shall be undertaken and concluded by the Board expeditiously, and, in any case, not later than eight weeks from the date of this order,” the court directed.
