The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Jammu Bench, has dismissed applications seeking to postpone the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board (JKSSB) examinations scheduled later this month.
The plea, filed separately by four candidates, cited a clash with the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exams scheduled from August 22–31. The JKSSB exams in question are:
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Junior Engineer (Electrical): August 24
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Junior Engineer (Civil): August 31
The tribunal noted that more than 31,000 candidates cannot be made to suffer due to the inconvenience of just four candidates, especially since all exam preparations, admit cards, and logistics had already been completed.
“Interference at this stage would also cause a huge financial loss to the public exchequer due to the cancellation of arrangements for the August 24 and 31 examinations,” the bench, comprising Administrative Member Pragya Sahay Saksena and Judicial Member Sanjeev Gupta, observed in a seven-page order.
During the hearing, Senior Additional Advocate General Monika Kohli, along with AAGs Rajesh Thapa and Sudesh Magotra and Deputy Advocate General Hunar Gupta, represented the respondents. Senior Advocate Abhinav Sharma, assisted by Abhimanyu Sharma, appeared for the applicants.
Kohli highlighted that the JE (Electrical) exam on August 24 has 13,034 candidates for 292 posts, while the JE (Civil) exam on August 31 has 18,885 candidates for 508 posts. She emphasized that the request for postponement came from only four candidates and that all logistics, printing, and infrastructure arrangements had been finalized.
The Senior Additional Advocate General (AAG) highlighted that coordination for venues, security, and staff deployment had already been completed, with significant manpower and financial resources invested. She stated that any postponement at this stage would cause serious administrative challenges, financial loss, and wastage of resources.
Kohli pointed out that the JE (Civil/Electrical) exam dates were notified on July 1, while the UPSC Preliminary results were declared on June 11. Despite having sufficient notice, the applicants waited until August 2—over a month later—to raise their representation, by which time substantial preparations for the JKSSB exams were already complete.
She argued, “Had the petitioners acted diligently, they could have raised their grievance immediately, or at least within a fortnight of the notification. Their belated representations lack bona fides and merit no consideration.” Kohli emphasized that it would be neither reasonable nor practical to disturb the entire examination process involving over 31,000 candidates for the sake of four applicants.
Agreeing with these arguments, the CAT bench observed that the applicants’ claim—that the JKSSB exam dates clash with the UPSC Main Examination—does not constitute sufficient grounds to reschedule the exams.
The tribunal added that the applicants’ concerns cannot outweigh the need to preserve the integrity of the recruitment process and protect the rights of other candidates who had made arrangements based on the existing schedule.
Referring to a Supreme Court judgment, the bench noted that the JKSSB and UPSC exams are of different nature and levels, reinforcing that rescheduling was unwarranted. (Agencies)
