E-Paper
HC upholds order to lodge FIR over caste-based question in DSSSB exam
New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Monday upheld a trial court’s order directing authorities to lodge FIR under the provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act over caste-based questions in the primary teachers’ recruitment exam conducted by the Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB) on October 13, 2018 and August 18, 2019
New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Monday upheld a trial court’s order directing authorities to lodge FIR under the provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act over caste-based questions in the primary teachers’ recruitment exam conducted by the Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB) on October 13, 2018 and August 18, 2019.
Justice Anu Malhotra said the questions were “undoubtedly prima facie fall within the domain of an intentional insult or intimidation with an intent to prima facie insult members of the SC/ST within public view”.
The court said it was a fact that both these are Scheduled Castes and the DSSB should not have framed questions on them in terms of the spirit of the verdicts of the Supreme Court.
The high court dismissed a petition by DSSSB, challenging a February 17 order of the trial court directing lodging of an FIR under the SC/ST Act on a complaint by advocate Satya Prakash Gautam.
In his petition before the trial court, advocate Gautam had said that the DSSSB officials have offended the sentiments of the Scheduled Caste community by allegedly asking caste-based questions.
The board had said it has sensitised all paper setters to ensure that the question paper does not have any question with casteist and religious undertones.
The board had issued a notice after media reported about the alleged question in which it said that it was an “inadvertent error”.
It had clarified that the procedure of paper setting was highly confidential and secretive in nature and the contents of the paper are not shared with the board officials and are revealed for the very first time before the candidates only.
However, Gautam filed another complaint on August 19, 2019, against DSSSB chairman and other erring police officials alleging the incident was repeated again.
In the second complaint, he claimed that a caste-based question was again asked in the exam conducted by the DSSSB for the primary teachers’ recruitment examination on August 18, 2019.
