Supreme Court transfers Haryana Judicial Service Exam matter to itself

Less than a month after it refused to transfer the case related to the Haryana Judicial Service Exam to the Delhi High Court, the Supreme Court has now taken suo motu cognizance of the matter..The earlier transfer petition, filed by one Suman, contained some serious allegations against a sitting judge of Punjab & Haryana High Court. The petitioner had prayed for shifting of the case pending in the Punjab & Haryana High Court to the Delhi High Court..On September 12, a Bench of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud had dismissed the petition, stating that the petitioner can approach it after the High Court decides the matter..But it now seems that the Court has changed its mind, perhaps in light of new information. Yesterday, the same Bench took suo motu cognizance of the matter, transferring the case to itself, as the Supreme Court is empowered to do under Article 139A of the Constitution. The matter is likely to come up for hearing on November 20..The case is currently being heard by a Bench of Justices Rajesh Bindal, Rajan Gupta and GS Sandhawalia of the Punjab & Haryana High Court. The role of Registrar (Recruitment) Dr. Balwinder Sharma was being looked into by the Court. The Court had earlier passed an order scrapping the results of this year’s edition of the exam..It was the petitioner’s allegation that a day prior to the examination, she was approached by one Sunita and one Sushila, who offered to provide her with the question paper for a payment of Rs. 1 crore. The duo also leaked two questions to her, and on the next day, those two questions actually appeared in the paper. The petitioner, therefore, moved the Punjab & Haryana High Court, and sought a CBI investigation into the matter..Click here to download the Bar & Bench Android App