MAT orders MPSC to file affidavit within two weeks

Challenging the general merit list of the post of PSI

Aurangabad, March 26:

Judicial members Judge PR Bora and administrative officer Bijay Kumar of the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal (MAT) have directed the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) to file an affidavit within two weeks on Wednesday.

The general merit list for the post of Maharashtra Secondary Service Non-Gazetted Group (B) Police Sub-Inspector (PSI) published by the MPSC has been challenged in MAT. The next hearing is set for April 6. The MPSC conducted pre-examination for the post of PSI on March 24, 2019 and main examination on August 4 2019. Exam results were announced on March 2, 2021.

As per rule 10 (7) 2014 of MPSC, while determining the priority order of the candidates with equal marks in the result process, the candidate who has higher education qualification is given first priority. But the commission changed the rules for determining the order of preference of the candidates and applied the rule of giving preference to the candidate who got equal marks in the main examination.

The commission published the general merit list on March 8, 2022. In it, the names of the candidates who scored higher marks in the main examination were mentioned first. Therefore, the names of Kedar Garad and Shridhar Dongre, despite their academic qualifications and seniority, fell down in the merit list. The original application has been filed in the Aurangabad bench of MAT through adv Amol Chalak Patil.

It was argued by the petitioners that this general merit list has been compiled as per the new instructions and rules 2021 and not as per the prevailing rules at the time of recruitment process that is inconsistent with the judgment of the Supreme Court. No law or rules can be enforced with retrospective effect.