HC refuses to stay Group-II exams

Hyderabad: On Monday, the High Court Single Bench comprising Justice Pulla Karthik heard the Writ Petition filed by Ravula Jyothi and 22 other students, hailing from various districts of the Telangana State and are aspiring to write the Group-II competitive examinations and “refused” to stay the exams.

The Standing Counsel for the TG State Public Service Commission informed the Court that the Group-II Examination will be held from December 15-16, 2024 and in total 5,51,000 students have applied for it and more than 1 lakh candidates have already downloaded the Hall Tickets as on 9-12-2024. Moreover, all arrangements for the said examination have been done viz., logistic arrangements, invigilators, security, examination centres etc., and for a couple of candidates, who are seeking a stay on the examination, stalling the examination will deprive them of the opportunity of writing the Group-II examination.

Further, Justice Pulla Karthik also heard the counsel for the petitioners, who informed the Court that the Railway Recruitment Board vide its notification dated 27-7-2024 has notified 7,951 posts [(Junior Engineer, Depot Material Superintendent, Chemical and Metallurgical Assistant, Chemical Supervisor (Research) and Metallurgical Supervisor (Research)] scheduled to be held between December 16-18, 2024, which coincides with the date of the Group-II examination.

Further, if the date of Group-II examination is shifted to some other date, the petitioners can appear for both the competitive examinations, which will be beneficial to them.

The Judge, after considering the contentions of the Standing counsel for the TGPSC said that at this stage, the Group-II Examination cannot be stayed and further issued notices to the Chief Secretary, Secretary, TG Public Service commission, Secretary, Railway Recruitment Board, Lallaguda, Secunderabad and the Union Railway Ministry, represented by its Secretary, New Delhi and adjourned the Writ Petition.