CFSL probe punches more holes in 9.5k JBT teachers' selection process

CHANDIGARH: In another blow to over 9,000 junior basic training (JBT) teachers in Haryana, the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), Chandigarh, has detected more faults in whole selection procedure. It also informed the Punjab and Haryana high court that it could not retrieve certain data from the computer hard discs provided to it by the state government.

In its supplementary report, submitted before the HC on Tuesday, CFSL told the court that some data in the discs was either deleted or corrupted. The CFSL has also raised questions over the formula adopted by the Haryana Staff Selection Commission for granting marks and submitted that there may be an attempt by the authorities to hide some facts.

After the CFSL's submission, Justice Deepak Sibal of the HC has adjourned the hearing to decide whether further investigation was needed in the case. The case will come up for further hearing on November 4.

The HC on September 2 had handed over the matter to Chandigarh CFSL after hearing a bunch of petitions seeking directions to quash the selection of around 9,500 JBT teachers. The main allegation of the petitioners was that they were not awarded two marks for their postgraduation qualification in the initial result uploaded in the website on September 6, 2014. The result was revised four days later after they complained about this. In the revised list, they were given two marks extra for their PG qualification but, at the same time, two marks were reduced from their interview score declared earlier, the petitioners claimed.

Responding to the allegations, the Haryana Staff Selection Commission, however, argued that the change in the result was due to a computer glitch. The HC then asked the CFSL to examine the hard discs of the computers. Around 40,000 candidates had appeared for the exam.