A candidate's long wait to gain admission to judiciary finally ended after he received an interview invitation for August 21, about 10 years after an advertisement was released for the recruitment of judicial officers in Punjab [Rustam Garg Versus Punjab and Haryana High Court]
Since 2019, the Punjab Civil Services (Judicial Branch) aspirant Rustam Garg has been in Court but as a lawyer, fighting for two marks that would have made him eligible for the viva voce held in 2018 for the posts advertised in 2016.
The dispute was over an error in totaling his marks and answer of a question pertaining to the meaning of the idiom ‘of first water’. A Division Bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sumeet Goel in May this year ordered reevaluation of the answer by another examiner.
On July 11, the Court was told that the evaluator had found the answer given by Garg to be correct. It was also found that he had been given one mark less due to an error in totaling. Accordingly, Garg, who had earlier secured 473 marks against the requisite 475 (for being eligible for viva-voce), was awarded two more marks.
In the latest development, the Recruitment Committee (District Judiciary) has recommended that Garg be called for an interview. In the order dated August 8, Chief Justice Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry recorded the following:
“It is informed that pursuant to the order passed by this Court on 11.07.2025 in the present case, Recruitment Committee (District Judiciary) of the respondent – High Court has taken a decision to invite the petitioner for viva-voce to be held on 21.08.2025 at 4:45 PM, and the petitioner has been informed in this regard by Punjab Public Service Commission…”
Speaking to Bar & Bench, 37-year-old Garg said he remains hopeful about the next week's interview.
"No doubt, it has been a long fight but justice has prevailed. I have been granted justice by the Hon'ble Court. The Court has allowed my prayers," he said.
Garg, who studied law at Panjab University, argued the case himself after his counsel passed away. He has been practicing law all these years.
On the delay in adjudication of his case, Garg said,
"I will not make any negative comment. No doubt, everyone is facing the situation of delay but the system can't be corrected in a single day. Due to pendency, it will take time."
Pertinently, the High Court (administration) itself had rectified the error in totaling the marks of Civil Law Paper. However, it had objected to the re-evaluation of the English paper question. Garg had given two answers to the question.
The question pertained to the meaning of certain idioms. A candidate was also required to make sentences using the idioms. The issue at hand pertained to the meaning ‘of the first water’ and Garg’s answer was that it meant ‘of the finest quality'.
He had made two sentences – 1. Mohan is a painter of the first water; 2. Le Curbusor was an architect of the first water.
During the hearings of the case, Garg relied upon various dictionaries to defend his answer.
The turning point in the case was May 27 when the High Court bench headed by Chief Justice Nagu opined that the answer given by Garg, even on the touchstone of ordinary knowledge of English language, cannot be said to be incorrect.
However, the Court had not agreed with his submission that the evaluator ought to have evaluated the correct answer. It opined that only the first answer ought to have been evaluated.
“This Court, but of-course, cannot turn a Nelson’s eye to such an ex-facie defect in the evaluation. Hence, the first answer to the question in issue calls for re-evaluation,” the Bench had said, while ordering re-evaluation of the answer.
With the Court’s intervention favoring Garg, he may be just one step away from becoming a judge himself.
[Read Order]