Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has delivered a significant verdict, imposing a fine of Rs 20,000 on candidates who filed affidavits containing false information while alleging irregularities in the Group-1 examination evaluation process.
The court has also directed the Judicial Registrar to initiate prosecution proceedings against the petitioners for submitting false affidavits.
In October, K Muthayya and 18 others had filed a petition in the High Court, claiming that the evaluation and result declaration methods used in the Group-1 main examinations were improper.
They requested the court to order the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TGPPSC) to conduct a re-evaluation and release results transparently. Justice Nagesh Bhimapak recently heard the case and issued these orders.
During the hearings, the petitioners’ lawyer argued that candidates suffered due to the evaluation method adopted by TGPSC, highlighting discrepancies between the marks memo issued by the commission and the information available on the website.
However, the commission’s lawyer, PS Rajasekhar, countered that the petition was not maintainable and accused the petitioners of seeking relief from the High Court by submitting false affidavits.
He pointed out that the candidate cited by the petitioners, M Rahul, had actually scored 192.5 marks, contrary to the petitioners’ claims.
The petitioners alleged that Rahul scored 122 marks in Paper-7, while the website showed only 100 marks, claiming irregularities.
Furthermore, the affidavit asserted that the candidate had actually scored 392.5 marks, which was factually incorrect, and the candidate was not even among the petitioners.
The commission’s counsel argued that if such a drastic reduction in marks had occurred, the candidate himself would have challenged it. He accused the petitioners of fabricating a false marks list to gain an advantage in the court.
After considering the arguments, the judge concluded that the petitioners had created fake documents and submitted false affidavits.
Citing the Supreme Court’s judgment in Dalip Singh vs Uttar Pradesh, the judge observed that High Courts, before exercising their jurisdiction, should consider the conduct of parties who attempt to mislead the court by suppressing facts.
The court dismissed the petition under Article 226 with a fine, ordering the petitioners to pay Rs 20,000 to the High Court Judges’ Court Masters and Personal Secretaries Association.
Additionally, the Judicial Registrar was directed to take appropriate action against the petitioners for submitting false affidavits.
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