HC closes contempt case against RPSC officials after apology | Jaipur News – The Times of India

Jaipur: The Rajasthan high court Friday closed contempt proceedings against Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) chairman Utkal Ranjan Sahoo and secretary Ramniwas Mehta after they issued an unconditional apology for submitting incorrect information regarding a recruitment exam result.The court found that the RPSC misrepresented facts related to the withdrawal of exam results announced on Jan 22, which they claimed followed a court order that did not exist. After both officials filed affidavits seeking forgiveness, the court accepted their apologies and decided no further action was necessary.The court of Justice Ashok Kumar Jain accepted their affidavits and closed the contempt proceedings initiated against them.The controversy arose after RPSC excluded certain candidates from the Senior Teacher (Agriculture) recruitment on the ground that their BSc (Biology) qualification was not equivalent to Entomology. Five petitioners, including Durgalal Regar, challenged the decision before the high court. Subsequently, three more candidates filed similar writ petitions, taking the total number to eight. After hearing the matter, the high court dismissed three petitions. However, in the case of petitioner Durgalal Regar and four others, the court directed the commission to keep certain posts vacant until final adjudication.Despite these directions, RPSC declared the recruitment result on Jan 22, 2026, categorising all petitions as “dismissed”.The petitioners’ counsel argued that two writ petitions were still pending and that the commission incorrectly stated they were rejected.On Feb 5, Justice Ashok Kumar Jain observed that declaring results by treating pending petitions as dismissed could amount to contempt of court. The court directed RPSC to withdraw the result, warning that the chairman and secretary would otherwise have to appear personally. The commission clarified that it misunderstood a Jan 16, 2025 order in another batch of cases, which the court termed irresponsible.Then, on Feb 11, RPSC informed the court that the result was withdrawn in compliance with the order. On Feb 13, the chairman and secretary filed affidavits tendering an unconditional apology.