- Punjab and Haryana High Court issued notice to Punjab govt on plea to cancel pharmacy officer exam
- Petition alleges exam was compromised by an organised inter-state cheating racket
- Court stayed recruitment process pending petition outcome, next hearing on August 10
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued a notice to the Punjab government on a plea seeking cancellation of the pharmacy officer recruitment examination.
The petition contended that the exam was vitiated by an organised cheating racket.
In an interim order on July 28, Justice Sandeep Moudgil directed that the further selection process for the recruitment would remain subject to the outcome of the petition.
The plea, filed by Keshav Kamboj and others through counsel Sarthak Gupta, sought cancellation of the written examination conducted on July 19 for recruitment to 454 pharmacy officer posts under the Department of Health and Family Welfare.
The petitioners also sought quashing of all consequential steps taken or proposed based on the examination, including the evaluation of answer sheets and preparation or declaration of the result.
They contended that the examination stood vitiated by an organised, hi-tech, inter-state cheating racket, citing a police press release issued on July 19 and an FIR registered the following day. They alleged that the irregularities violated Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution.
As the state had already been served with an advance copy of the petition, Punjab Assistant Advocate General TPS Walia appeared on its behalf and sought time to file a written statement, according to the order.
The court posted the matter for further hearing on August 10.
Punjab Police had on July 19 claimed to have busted a highly sophisticated, inter-state cheating racket operating during the pharmacy officer examination. Seven key conspirators and 28 candidates were held, and 27 battery-operated wireless cheating devices were recovered.
Police also detected the use of pen cameras and real-time dictation during the exam. The racket charged between Rs 3.5 lakh and Rs 13 lakh to ensure passing marks, police said.
Nearly 7,000 candidates appeared for the examination for 454 pharmacy officer posts across 25 examination centres in Faridkot, Kotkapura and Ferozepur. The examination was conducted by Baba Farid University of Health Sciences on behalf of the Health and Family Welfare Department.
The opposition has targeted the AAP government over the alleged cheating racket, demanding the resignation of Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains and Health Minister Balbir Singh.
However, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday claimed that there had not been a single paper leak in any competitive examination during the four-and-a-half years of the AAP government's tenure in the state.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
