Concerned over serious irregularities in selection to public posts, the Supreme Court has suggested the Centre to videograph all selection proceedings by the Public Service Commission and State Selection Boards.
In an order passed recently, the apex court even asked the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to explore the possibility of installing CCTVs at the venues where examination and interview takes place to ensure that in the event any illegality surfaces, the CCTV footage could be verified by an independent committee of experts.
The decision of the court has come amid reports of the question paper of the common Staff Selection Commission (SSC) examination been leaked in which lakhs of students took part. The Centre has handed over the probe into the alleged scam to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The case before the Supreme Court resulted from two separate cases arising from Karnataka and Meghalaya in the appointment to public posts. The Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) filled up 362 posts of Group A and Group D officers for which examinations were held in 2012 and interviews conducted in 2013. Later on an enquiry by the Crime Investigation Depar-tment, it surfaced that several candidates had bribed persons in the selection committee.
The investigation concluded that all members who interviewed the candidates awarded exactly the same 4 marks to particular candidates. There was no objective assessment by individual members and 566 candidates were awarded same marks which appeared to be pre-determined. Digital video recorder in the KPSC building was replaced to destroy evidence.
The other case which came to court pertained to irregularities in appointment of assistant teachers in Meghalaya’s Government lower primary schools. The Bench of Justices Adarsh K Goel and Rohington F Nariman said, “Such incidents are being reported in several cases. We are of the view that for the purity of selection to the public posts, it is desirable that as far as possible, the selection process conducted by the selection bodies, especially the State Public Service Commissions and State Selection Boards is videographed.”
The Bench directed this order to be forwarded to the DoPT for compliance as it even urged the Centre to consider having CCTV cameras installed at the places where the examination and interview takes place. The judges believed this will help gather evidence by way of footage to be seen by an independent committee in ruling out possibility of any wrongdoing in the selection process. The report of the committee may then be placed on the website concerned.