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Sachit Kumar Singh & Others vs. The State of Jharkhand & Others

Civil Appeal · 2023 INSC 455Decided 28 Apr 2023
Civil Appeal Nos. 2793-2798 of 2023

Background

The Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission advertised 1,544 posts of Sub Inspector of Police in 2017, requiring candidates to score a minimum 45% in each paper and 50% overall to qualify. Of 3,219 candidates who appeared, only 663 met the minimum marks, and ultimately just 396 were appointed. The appellants, candidates who narrowly missed the cut-off by just one or two marks, raised objections that the answer keys for nine questions were incorrect, and asked for an expert opinion and re-evaluation. Both the Single Judge and the Division Bench of the Jharkhand High Court dismissed their writ petitions and appeals, holding that the objections were filed after the deadline and that even if extra marks were awarded, they would benefit successful candidates too, so no real prejudice was caused.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court partly allowed the appeals, holding that the High Court had taken an overly technical view. It found that the appellants' very first representation objecting to the answer key was actually submitted on 1 December 2017, within the stipulated window, and that even later objections (6 and 8 January 2018) were filed before the result was declared on 9 January 2018, so they should have been considered on merits. The Court also rejected the High Court's reasoning that no prejudice was caused because any added marks would benefit all candidates equally: since the appellants were short of the qualifying mark by just one or two points, even a small correction could have made them eligible, changing their outcome specifically. The Court remitted the matter back to the High Court's Division Bench to reconsider the appeals on merits, including the option of obtaining an expert opinion on the disputed questions, and directed that this be done within three months.

Lesson Learnt

In competitive examinations, objections to answer keys raised before the result is declared should ordinarily be examined on their merits rather than dismissed on technical timing grounds, especially where the margin between a candidate's score and the qualifying cut-off is so small that even a minor correction could change the outcome for that individual.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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