Rashid Paul
Srinagar, Aug 18: In the ‘controversial’ selection process for the post of Principal, SKIMS Medical College, Bemina, the J&K High today called for records of the selection and directed the authorities to not finalize selection list until further orders from the court.
The court admitted that it is conscious about the fact that it has limited scope in interfering with an ongoing selection process which has not yet culminated.
“However, in view of the contentions raised by the petitioners qua ‘violation’ of mandate of recruitment rules as well as terms and conditions of the Advertisement Notice on part of the respondents, it has become necessary to call for the records of the selection for perusal and examination,” the court said.
The court also issued notice to the respondent authorities returnable on or before the next date of hearing falling on Monday, the August 23, 2021.
Justice A M Magray, who heard the matter, directed the concerned selectors including the Director SKIMS to submit relevant selection records before the court on the next date of hearing so fixed.
The court said that the selection process in question may go ahead. However, it put a rider that the list should not be finalized until further orders from the court.
The petitioner Prof Abdul Wahid Khan, an aggrieved candidate, told the court that the post of Principal for this prestigious medical college of J&K was put to advertisement in terms of Advertisement Notice No. 01 of 2021 dated 7th of January, 2021.
He said the selection process for the aforesaid post is being carried on by the respondent authorities in violation of the recruitment rules governing the subject as well as against the mandate of Clauses (b) and (c) prescribed in the Advertisement Notice.
M Y Bhat, the senior counsel, representing the petitioner while elaborating the claim made in the writ petition, submitted “the selection committee has not assessed the credentials of all the competing candidates on the basis of criteria and that, without such assessment, they have called all the nine (09) competing candidates for interview instead of restricting the number of candidates to the ratio of 1:5”.
He further submitted “the selection committee was supposed to prepare the panel of three candidates on the basis of merit to be assessed by it. The panel was to be put before the Chairman, Governing Body, SKIMS, in the order of merit for making selection. But instead of doing so, they have prepared the panel.”
This, he said, has resulted in violation of the mandate of recruitment rules governing the subject as also terms and conditions of the Advertisement Notice.
