Orissa High Court Upholds OPSC ASO Merit List-2022

Cuttack: In a significant verdict, the Orissa High Court on Friday ruled that the Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC) conducted the Assistant Section Officer (ASO) recruitment selection process without irregularities. The High Court, in a division bench hearing the case, upheld the merit list of 1104 candidates, as published by the commission. Furthermore, the court issued a directive to resume the selection process.

The legal representative for the OPSC informed the media that they had apprised the High Court of the commission’s authority to shortlist candidates. The commission, as per its discretion, can establish either subject-wise qualifying marks or aggregate qualifying marks, as explicitly stated in the recruitment exam advertisement.

It’s noteworthy that a previous decision by a single bench of the High Court had temporarily halted the selection process. The recruitment examination took place on August 27, 2022, with the results announced on November 7, 2022. Subsequently, certain candidates approached the Orissa High Court, raising concerns about irregularities in the ASO recruitment examination. The court took cognizance of the matter when the OPSC released a merit list featuring 1104 candidates.

The controversy hovers around the introduction of a new ‘qualification mark rule’ by the OPSC in the determination of the merit list. According to this rule, a sectional cut-off was implemented, requiring candidates to achieve qualifying marks in each subject.

Applicants raised objections, pointing out that the OPSC had not mentioned the new qualifying mark rule in its initial advertisement and introduced it at a later stage, post the written exams.

The recruitment examination took place on August 27, 2022, and the results were announced on November 7, 2022.