Karan Singh Dalal, a sitting MLA of the Republican Party of India from Palwal, had filed a PIL in the High Court challenging the HCS selection process on the grounds that candidates receiving fewer marks in the written test were given more in the interview and vice-versa.

Taking note of the serious allegations, the High Court had allowed the inspection of records pertaining to the exam. Jain, after carrying out the inspection, alleged that a candidate, Roll No 12254, sister of an IAS officer who was the then Managing Director of HSIDC and wife of Additional District Judge (ADJ) presently posted at Karnal, was awarded 583 marks, 493 marks in the written test and 90 in the interview.

Jain further said that after inspection of her answer sheets, it was found that in three papers of English/English Essay, Hindi/Hindi Essay and General Knowledge, she was given abnormally higher marks, not in consistence with her performance, clear from the flow, language and clarity of expression. Her scores in English were 111, in Hindi/Hindi Essay, 105 and in General Knowledge, 123 whereas in other subjects they were very low — Political Science 36, Sociology 58 and Public Administration 60.

“The manipulations are very clear in the papers of Hindi/Hindi Essay in which marks were increased from 85 to 105, General Knowledge and English/English Essay. One can easily make out that the answer sheets were re-stapled,” said Jain.

Jain further said that irregularities were noticed in many other cases. It was found that despite violation of instructions, no penal action was taken by the Commission against the erring candidates. The instructions to the candidates are printed on the cover page of each answer book, which are required to be strictly followed while attempting the papers.