On Sunday (April 2), Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar sparked a controversy with his remarks about a judge during a public meeting in Bhiwani. He was speaking regarding the controversy surrounding Haryana Police’s recruitment drive. “Voh [Samasya] hal ho jayegi. Voh ek judge hai, uske maathe mein kuch gadbad hai. Toh theek karenge usko. Mujhe pata hai saara maamla. 3000 join ho gaye na, paanch mein se teen ho gaye na? Baaki jo 2000 bach gaye hain, voh bhi court ka faisla jaldi kara lenge (This problem will be solved. There is a judge, there is something wrong with his head. We will fix him. I am aware of the entire matter. Three thousand recruits have already joined. 3,000 of 5,000 have joined. The remaining 2,000 will get the court ruling soon),” Khattar had said on Sunday. The opposition quickly launched a scathing attack on the chief minister, calling his remarks a “direct attack on the judiciary” and seeking an intervention from the Chief Justice of India, in the form of a contempt notice to Khattar. However, just a day after making the controversial remarks, Khattar withdrew his words, referring to them as an “aswabhavik tippani” (unnatural comment) and expressing “regret”. “I respect the courts of law . It was a question pertaining to an inordinate delay: an examination took place, the results of which were also announced but a stay was imposed [by the court]. Thus, an unnatural comment came out that I feel should not have been made. If it [what I said] might have reached a particular judge, I withdraw my words,” Khattar said on Monday. “In yesterday's public meeting, people who have not been able to join their jobs came to me. Thus, an unnatural comment was made [by me] which I regret”, he added. What is the police recruitment case that Khattar was talking about? The matter pertains to the recruitment of 5,500 male and 1,100 lady constables in Haryana police. The process of recruitment was initiated in 2020 when the posts were first advertised. Written examinations were held in 2021. The matter reached the High Court in 2021 after multiple aspirants challenged the merit list of candidates. The petitioners alleged that there was a deviation in preparation of the merit list. Initially, the percentile method was adopted and a merit list was prepared. But subsequently this list was scrapped because the Haryana Staff Selection Commission had to add additional marks accounting for socio-economic criteria, higher qualifications, etc. The petitioners argued that if these additional marks were added to the percentile method adopted, the marks total would go well beyond 100. However, the government, on the other hand, has argued that the formula used was suggested by the Indian Statistical Institute and had been followed in letter and spirit. Thus, the mathematical calculations can not be disputed. In July, 2022, the High Court issued a stay on the recruitment. In September, 2022, the High Court had also roped in Central Staff Selection Commission, New Delhi to assist the court in the matter observing that the court was “not equipped to deal with the issue”. Last month, the High Court again refused to lift the stay on recruitment of 5,000 male constables. The court has sought a response from the Haryana government by April 17. What is the 'biometric mismatch' on which the opposition is attacking the government? Haryana Staff Selection Commission's chairman Bhopal Singh had recently revealed that at least 833 men and 111 women candidates failed to report for document verification and biometrics. Singh added that biometrics of 33 men and 11 women did not match with the data available with the HSSC. Congress Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Singh Surjewala, referring to Singh's statement, admonished the state government for blaming a judge for the delay in recruitment when the HSSC chairman himself admitted that document verification and biometrics of 833 men and 111 women candidates were “under doubt”. Are there other such recruitment drives that are under legal scrutiny? In 2018, the recruitment of 7,110 constables was initiated. This got challenged in the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the grounds of economic as well as social caste reservation criteria. Out of the 7,110 originally recruited for, only 2020 could join, with the remaining posts yet to be filled. In 2019, 4,798 clerks posts were advertised, but certain irregularities were pointed out by a few applicants. Selected candidates had already started joining their posts when around 200 were found “wrongly selected”. When these candidates were removed, they approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court and a stay order was issued. In 2022, 383 posts for veterinary surgeons were advertised, but again the issue of alleged question paper-leak and irregularities in answer key were alleged. After the matter reached the Punjab and Haryana High Court, a stay order on the recruitment was issued in this case as well.
