Kochi : The high court on Monday, while considering a petition filed by the Kerala Public Service Commission challenging the investigation ordered against it in connection with the alleged exam fraud, orally asked why the commission was not cooperating with the investigation if it believed it was not guilty.
The court further observed that the aspirations of the younger generation should be protected. Young people hope to secure govt jobs through hard work and expect examinations to be conducted fairly and legitimately. They should have a fair opportunity to compete without any influence or manipulation, a bench of Justice A Badharudeen observed.
An exam was conducted in July 2023, and the first rank holder was advised for appointment in June 2025. Later, following litigation initiated by a rank holder before the Kerala Administrative Tribunal, it was revealed that the answers to 10 questions in the written examination had not been evaluated. Accordingly, the court observed that the matter would be heard in detail and adjourned the petition to Oct 13 for counter affidavit/statements.
The case arose from allegations regarding the conduct and evaluation of the PSC exam for appointment to the post of chief (industry and infrastructure division) in the Kerala State Planning Board. Accordingly, the state govt issued an order to register a case against PSC members and staff and conduct an investigation into the alleged exam irregularities, following which the PSC approached the court. Director general of prosecution T Asaf Ali, appearing for the state govt, vehemently opposed the petition and challenged its maintainability, arguing that the PSC had no legal right to file a writ petition. The court also criticised the PSC over the allegations regarding the conduct of the impugned exam and suspected that there might have been a larger conspiracy behind the non-evaluation of answers to certain questions. Securing a govt job is the sole hope of crores of educated youngsters in Kerala and, hence, the allegations raised against the PSC regarding the exam fraud are very serious, the bench orally remarked. Non-evaluation of answers would seriously affect the purpose of conducting the exam and might amount to corruption, the bench further observed.
On Monday, the court orally said that it had to look into certain aspects, including whether the statutory body was entitled to file a petition before the court.