HC disposes of petitions against selections after govt cancels recruitment

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday disposed of the petitions against recruitment of fishermen in Haryana’s department of fisheries after the state government said that the same had been cancelled.

For the selection process completed last month, allegations of nepotism and favouritism had surfaced against officials of the department and a senior cabinet minister of the state government, OP Dhankar.

The high court order came after department of fisheries director RK Sangwan said the government has not only cancelled the recruitment but also instituted an inquiry by Prem Singh Malik, joint director, fisheries department.

The high court has asked the state not to re-open the sealed record without court’s permission, petitioner’s lawyer, Gurin- derpal Singh said.

The matter had reached the high court in December last year, when some candidates alleged nepotism and favouritism in the selection process.

The selection of 96 fishermen, a class-D post, was done through a departmental committee with Vijay Sharma, deputy director, Panchkula; Balbir Singh, deputy director, Hisar; Kashmir Singh, district fisheries officer, Panipat; and Balraj Sehrawat, district fisheries officer, Fatehabad, as members.

As per the petitioners, 96 candidates were selected against the advertised 90 posts. Some of the selected candidates were also related to the members of the selection committee and officials in the department, it was alleged. The recruitment process started in January 2016.

CANCELLATION AFTER ALLEGATIONS OF NEPOTISM SURFACED