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Synopsis

The Delhi High Court has recently issued a significant ruling concerning candidates who resort to malpractices and tampering in order to succeed in competitive examinations. The court expressed deep concern over such misconduct and highlighted the unfortunate consequences, whereby innocent and diligent students become victims of the disorderly actions of their fellow candidates.

The bench of Justice Chandra Dhari Singh noted that such circumstances leave the state and its relevant agencies with no alternative but to cancel the examination entirely.

Court emphasized the inherent difficulty faced by examination authorities in accurately identifying the extent of malpractices and irregularities committed by participating students.

"It is observed that it becomes extremely difficult for the agencies conducting such examinations to determine and identify exactly how many students have engaged in such malpractices and irregularities," it observed. 

Court made these observations while dismissing a petition by several candidates who applied for the post of Junior Assistant or Office Assistant against vacancies notified by the Delhi Skill Entrepreneurship University (DSEU). However, the examination was cancelled by the university after cases of tampering and use of unfair means were detected in the Computer Based Recruitment Test (CBRT) at two centers.

The counsel for the petitioners argued that only a few isolated cases of unfair means were uncovered during the examination, and, as such, DSEU's decision to annul the entire test was arbitrary and unreasonable.

The court, however, asserted that the writ of mandamus or any other writ could not be granted in this particular petition. DSEU was well within its jurisdiction to cancel the examination process, an action taken to uphold the integrity of the examination, it held.

Justice Singh underlined the well-established legal principle that the selection process must remain untainted and that maintaining its sanctity is of paramount importance during any examination.

“Any tampering with the same might result in suffering caused to the candidates who participate in such examination processes with honesty; however, there may be certain situations wherein the nature of the irregularities may be varied, making it impossible to determine the number of candidates involved in the said irregularity," Justice Singh said.

Furthermore, it was noted that the Computer Based Recruitment Test (CBRT) had indeed been tampered with, as evident from the two FIRs lodged by DSEU. Following these incidents, the examination had to be canceled three times.

Consequently, the court dismissed the petition, reaffirming the importance of upholding the integrity of competitive examinations to ensure fairness and justice in the selection process.

Case Title: Kavi Vaidwan & Ors. v. Delhi Skill and Entrepreneurship University & Ors.