BSF rejects 561 candidates on grounds of 'malpractices', Guj HC issues notice

Ahmedabad: Gujarat High Court has issued a notice to the Border Security Force (BSF) over its decision to scrap appointment of 561 constables on the grounds of "malpractices" in the recruitment process.

As many as 18 students selected from Gujarat who were awaiting their appointment letters from the BSF moved the High Court seeking direction to appoint them as they had cleared several stages of selection process to be finally chosen for the post.

A division bench of Justice Anant S Dave and Justice A Y Kogje issued notices to BSF offices in Delhi and Ahmedabad which are returnable in two weeks.

The petitioners had applied for the jobs advertised in various newspapers in September last year following which a written examination was held on October 23. Out of 561 posts, 28 were for Gujarat for which the petitioners had qualified. The BSF, in a notice issued on its website on January 2 this year stated that "due to some malpractices

/irregularities observed in the above recruitment process, the complete recruitment process for the post is hereby terminated with immediate effect."

The petitioners said they were not given a hearing or an opportunity to appear afresh for the examination by the recruiter before the entire process was cancelled.

They said the BSF did not even clearly explain what these "malpractices" are and wondered if any inquiry had been conducted.

They demanded that they be appointed to the posts as they were not involved in the malpractices and were not at fault.