U'khand HC issues notice to Centre, state on plea claiming irregularities in SSC member's selection

The Uttarakhand High Court has issued notices to the Centre and the state government on a plea claiming irregularities in the selection process of a member of the Staff Selection Commission (SSC), which carries out recruitment for the central government.

A bench of Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice Alok Kumar Verma also issued notices to the secretary of Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Delhi, Department of Post, Delhi and SSC member Ashok Kumar on Thursday.

The central government's Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) had in January 2020 sought applications for the post of SSC member.

The commission is headed by a chairperson and can have two members. The plea claimed the candidature of the petitioner, Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi, was not considered last year by a selection committee headed by the then DoPT secretary C Chandramouli on the ground that his application was ''received after the last date of receipt of application''.

Chaturvedi, a 2002-batch officer of the Uttarakhand cadre, was among 16 candidates who had applied for the post.

Ashok Kumar, an Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS) officer, was appointed to the position in September 2020.

According to minutes of the meeting of the selection committee received by Chaturvedi in response to an RTI query, his complete application was received on May 29, 2020.

However, citing a copy of Speed Post tracking report, the petition claimed the application was received at the DoPT office at 3:31 PM on March 20, 2020, well before the last date of March 23, 2020.

The selection committee also did not consider Chaturvedi's application as he has a ''PG Diploma in Forestry from IGNFA (Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy, Dehradun) and not a PG degree as required as per the recruitment rules for the post of member, SSC'', the minutes of the meeting stated.

Chaturvedi enclosed an official notification issued in April 1998 that said, ''The Academic Council unanimously resolved that AIGNFA (Associate of Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy) Diploma be recognised as equivalent to M.Sc (Forestry)''.

Further, his date of birth is shown as 04.08.1962 in the minutes of meeting while his actual date of birth is 21.12.1974, the plea said.

Aggrieved over the alleged irregularities in the selection process, Chaturvedi approached the high court seeking rejection of Kumar's appointment.

The petition also sought that the entire recruitment exercise be conducted afresh ''purely on grounds of merit'' and in a fair and transparent manner for the 16 candidates who had applied for the post.

Chaturvedi is currently posted as the chief conservator of forest, Research Wing, in Uttarakhand's Haldwani.

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