The Orissa High Court has cancelled the July 13 mains examination for recruitment to the post of Assistant Section Officer (ASO), citing serious doubts about the fairness of the test conducted by an external agency.
In a notification issued on Wednesday, Registrar (Examination) S. K. Dash Ray said the High Court has decided to hold a fresh mains examination on December 7 for the 7,113 candidates who had qualified the preliminary test held on May 4.
According to the notification, the court was not satisfied with the conduct of the earlier mains examination. “Since the court entertains serious doubts in the conduct of the mains written examination by the agency engaged for the said purpose, the court has decided to cancel the same… in order to ensure fairness in the examination process,” it stated.
The fresh written examination will be conducted in three sittings, covering English, General Awareness and Reasoning, and Mathematics. Candidates will be able to download their e-admit cards from the recruitment section of the High Court website between November 17 and December 5.
Sources indicated that the High Court decided to scrap the July 13 exam after it emerged that Silicon Tech—one of the firms allegedly involved in the Odisha Sub-Inspector recruitment scam—had been assigned the ASO mains process.
Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation has formally taken over the probe into the SI recruitment scam and registered a case at its Bhubaneswar unit. A team led by a Deputy Superintendent of Police-rank officer will conduct a detailed inquiry into the alleged irregularities.
Before the CBI takeover, the Odisha Crime Branch had arrested 126 people in connection with the SI recruitment case, including 114 aspiring candidates.
