The Telangana High Court has issued a momentous ruling by dismissing the Telangana State Public Service Commission Group-2 (TSPSC Group-2) selection list and mandating the Commission to perform a fresh evaluation of answer sheets within eight weeks.
The court ruled that the prior selection process was "legally invalid" because of major errors in handling OMR sheets, Sakshi reports.
The decision came after many candidates disputed the recruitment process, claiming that several answer sheets contained evidence of tampering, such as the use of whitener, eraser markings, and double bubbling.
A Technical Committee appointed by the previous Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) government in 2017 has previously advised that such OMR sheets not be examined.
However, the Commission included these answer papers in the final procedure, which the court deemed a serious lapse.
The High Court observed that the TSPSC disregarded both the Technical Committee's instructions and previous court orders.
Therefore, the Telangana High Court has ordered the following:
The TSPSC Group-2 2019 final selection list is invalid.
TSPSC must undertake a new evaluation following the Technical Committee's 2017 standards.
The process should be completed within 8 weeks.
Previously, only Part-A OMR answers were eligible for examination, but the TSPSC also evaluated Part-B answers, which the court deemed to be beyond its authority.
TSPSC released a notification for 1,032 Group-2 posts in 2015. The exams were held in November 2016.
Following allegations regarding OMR mismatches and tampering, candidates filed petitions challenging the review process and the final 2019 selection list.
Despite these directions, TSPSC did not fully adhere to the criteria during the final examination.
After years of legal proceedings, the case has finally reached a clear and definite resolution.
With the selection list invalidated, the Commission must reassess eligible OMR sheets and produce a revised list. Candidates who were chosen previously will have to wait for the new results.