Noisy scenes in Haryana assembly over hiring irregularities during Cong rule
Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini on Wednesday said in the assembly that the state government will seek advocate general’s (AG) opinion to ascertain next legal step regarding the Punjab and Haryana high court verdict pertaining to the recruitment of 20 police inspectors when the Congress was in power.
“If the Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC) can initiate an investigation into the matter through a specialised agency, in compliance with the court’s decision, the government is ready to provide the necessary services immediately,” Saini said in a statement as the issue of alleged irregularities in recruitment during Congress rule again sparked heated verbal duel between the BJP and the Congress in the assembly on Wednesday.
A day earlier on Tuesday, Haryana assembly had witnessed stormy proceedings as the Opposition Congress and ruling BJP MLAs locked horns over alleged irregularities in government job recruitments during the tenure of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. The uproar had begun after BJP MLA Om Parkash Yadav raised the issue during Zero Hour, citing a recent Punjab and Haryana high court verdict. BJP members alleged that under the Hooda-led Congress government, a topper was unfairly denied a job, which was instead given to another candidate.
On Wednesday again the BJP fielded Yadav to raise the issue, leading to sharp exchange even as former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda quoted the contents of the ruling in question to defend himself.
The House witnessed noisy scenes and assembly proceedings were stalled for sometime as BJP and Congress members were seen arguing on this matter.
Meanwhile, chief minister said that in 2011, a petition was filed in the high court by an individual, alleging irregularities in the recruitment process for 20 posts of inspectors in Haryana Police conducted by the Haryana Staff Selection Commission in 2008. The petitioner claimed that despite securing the highest marks in the written examination, insufficient marks were awarded in the interview. “In addition, the petitioner alleged that two of the selected candidates had not even appeared for the written examination. The court ruled that if the petitioner is not satisfied with this decision, then it is his legal right to appeal,” Saini said in a statement.
The chief minister further informed that the court had formed a three-member committee to investigate the petitioner’s allegations. “In its report, on this allegation of impersonation, the Haryana Staff Selection Commission stated that the attendance sheet of the written examination is no longer available. Therefore, to investigate this, a forensic match of handwriting recorded on the answer sheet should be done by a specialised agency by taking a sample of the handwriting of both the selected candidates. On this, the court in its order said that it could not perform the role of an investigative agency, but the Haryana Staff Selection Commission has the freedom to get the facts investigated,” CM said, adding that during the Congress tenure the recruitment process for government jobs was flawed.
“When Congress was in power, qualified youth were ignored, and many deserving candidates, especially from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, could not think of getting a government job,” chief minister said and the Congress protested.
