A petition was filed on Monday in the Kerala High Court seeking an early hearing of an appeal filed against a single judge’s verdict in the Munsif Magistrate selection case.
The petition was filed by Kiranlal M. of Kollam. According to him, a single judge had dismissed a writ petition challenging the select list prepared in 2014 for the post of munsif-magistrates. The Division Bench which heard the appeal was convinced that there was large-scale manipulation in the valuation. The appeal was heard on various dates and lastly it was heard on April 7, 2015. Thereafter it was posted on December 18. However, nothing had taken place in the case since then.
The petitioner pointed out that, in fact, the training for the selected candidates was almost over and they would soon assume charge as judicial officers. Therefore, any delay in considering the case would cause serious hardships, leading to appointments of undeserving candidates in the posts.
It was heard last by a Division Bench comprising Justice P.N. Raveendran and Justice P.V. Asha which had directed the High Court Registrar (Recruitment and Computerisation) to check the entire files pertaining to the selection. The court observed that if there was any irregularity in the selection process, the court would interfere.
In response to the directive, the Registrar had told the court that no corrections were made by the Registry or any marks were changed in the tabulation sheet. The corrections in answer sheets and corresponding sheets for marks in the Kerala Judicial Service Examination were made by the evaluators themselves.
