Faced with cases of alleged scam in government employment, the Supreme Court has said selection process conducted by state public service commissions and state selection boards should be videographed. “We are of the view that for the purity of selection to the public posts, it is desirable that as far as possible the selection process conducted by the selection bodies, especially the state public service commissions and the state selection boards, is videographed,” said a Bench of Justice AK Goel and Justice RF Nariman.
“It is desirable that at examination centres as well as interview centres CCTV cameras are installed to the extent viable. Footage thereof may be seen by an independent committee of three members and report of such committee may be placed on the website concerned,” the Bench ordered on Friday. The Bench directed the top court’s Registry to send a copy of its order to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, for forwarding it to the authorities concerned for compliance. The order came in a case relating to an alleged scam in the appointment of Assistant Teachers in lower primary schools in Meghalaya. In 2009, selection process was conducted for filling up vacancies of lower primary teachers.
Following allegations of corruption, a petition was filed in 2011 in the Meghalaya High Court and a Single Judge ordered a CBI probe into it after finding that there were massive irregularities in the selection process. However, a Division Bench of the High Court reversed the order for a CBI probe; left it to the state government to look into it and ordered that services of tainted candidates be terminated while bonafide untainted candidates be retained. Unselected candidates found eligible should be appointed, it said.
The Supreme Court sent the matter back for reconsideration to the High Court, which against asked the CBI to probe the matter. “It has been found that there are serious irregularities in the selection process of appointment of assistant teachers in government lower primary schools in the State of Meghalaya. Such incidents are being reported in several cases,” the top court, while mentioning such a case from Karnataka, noted.
