The Allahabad High Court has reserved its verdict on the mandatory requirement of passing the preliminary qualifying examination in the Auxiliary Nurse & Midwife/ Health Worker (ANM) recruitment case.
A single-judge bench of Justice Ajit Kumar passed this order while hearing a petition filed by Ekta Yadav And 9 Others
“Siddharth Singhal, the counsel for the contesting respondents, submitted that similar matter has come to be heard by Lucknow Bench of the Court in Writ- A No- 96 of 2022 and judgment reserved on 11th January, 2022 and accordingly, he prays that this matter may be adjourned for at least two weeks so that a decision may come on the point,” the Court noted.
In view of the above, the Court adjourned the matter and is directed to be put up again on February 4, 2022.
Singhal further submitted that he has filed a counter affidavit in the registry of this Court on January 10, 2022, however, the same is not available on record.
The Court directed the Office to trace out the same and place it on record by the next date fixed and the rejoinder affidavit, if any, may also be filed by the next date fixed annexing therewith the relevant recruitment rules for the post of Health Worker (Female).
It has been said in the petition that in the advertisement which was issued for recruitment to 9600 posts of ANM, it was prescribed to pass the preliminary qualifying examination. Only those candidates who will clear the preliminary qualifying examination will be given a chance to appear in the main examination.
The counsel for the petitioner had argued that due to continuous coronavirus infection for two years, many candidates were not discharged from hospitals. Because of this, he could not get a chance to study. Therefore, it is not necessary to pass the preliminary qualifying examination to appear in the main examination. The determination by the Commission is arbitrary and discriminatory. There is no justification for this test.