A candidate who had missed her opportunity to join the Group-II services of the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) due to a ‘Jai Hind’ remark in her answer found hope nine years later. The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court ruled in favour of the candidate, M Kalpana, directing the TNPSC to reassess her answer paper and offer her the opportunity if she meets the necessary score.
Justice Battu Devanand issued this order based on a petition filed by Kalpana in 2017. The controversy arose when the TNPSC declared her answer paper for the Part-B written examination, conducted in 2014 for Group-II services recruitment, as invalid. The commission cited the inclusion of “Jai Hind, Let us live united with nature” in her essay’s concluding section as the reason for disqualification.
While Kalpana argued that her answer was pertinent to the question, the TNPSC contended that she had violated instructions outlined in para 8 and 16(iii) of the answer book. These instructions prohibited candidates from including irrelevant or impertinent remarks that could identify them to the examiner.
It wasn’t until December 2016 that Kalpana learned the rationale behind her disqualification when she received an explanation in response to her Right to Information (RTI) application. With 160 marks in Part A and 24 marks in the interview, she required only six more marks to qualify.
Justice Devanand criticised the TNPSC for not considering the entire essay before labelling the ‘Jai Hind’ remark as ‘impertinent.’ He also highlighted that “Jai Hind” or “Victory to India” is a commonly uttered slogan in the country, used by children in school prayers and eminent speakers at the conclusion of speeches. The TNPSC was directed to adhere to the court’s directives within one month.
(with inputs from The New Indian Express)
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