UT files reply in GMCH director case

The petitioners,who are in-house candidates of GMCH,did not apply in response to the advertisement on the rule-related premise that the inhouse candidates are not eligible for consideration as the post is to be filled by a candidate on deputation or on short-term contract. However,it transpired later that names of certain in-house candidates did come to be recommended by the Chandigarh Administration to the UPSC for consideration.

In its reply filed on Monday,the UT Administration has stated that the selection process in question has been issued in pursuance to the public appointment notice/advertisement issued on September 4,2011. The role of the Administration is limited to inviting and forwarding of applications in terms of the applicable recruitment rules and provisions. The reply further states that applications received in response have been forwarded to UPSC,which is to determine the question of eligibility and suitability of the candidates. These candidates include Dr Jagdish Kumar,Dr Suman Kochar,Dr B S Chavan,Dr Arjun Das and Dr A K Janmeja.

The Administration further states that it is now up to UPSC to decide whether the candidates can also be considered for appointment in question. “It is stated that as far as claims of the petitioners is concerned they did not apply in pursuance to the advertisement dated September 4. It was therefore not possible for Chandigarh Administration to consider their cases on the same pattern as was done in the case of the respondents who had duly applied for the said appointment. If the applicants had also applied in a similar manner their cases would also have been forwarded along with other similarly situated persons,” stated the Administration.

The reply states that it cannot be the intention on part of the Administration to favour or deny consideration to any person. The cut-off date of November 3,2011 has been followed.