Madras High Court grants relief to TNPSC candidate who wrote “Jai Hind” at the end of her exam essay

The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court recently came to the rescue of a woman whose answer paper for an exam conducted by the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) was invalidated because she wrote “Jai Hind, Let us live united with nature” at the end of her essay [M Kalpana v. The Secretary, TNPSC]..Justice Battu Devanand noted that while writing an essay on the “importance of conversation of natural resources”, it may be natural for young persons to spontaneously become emotional and feel patriotic..Hence, he opined that the candidate’s answer sheet could not be invalidated merely because she wrote “Jai Hind” at the end of her paper, which the judge observed meant “victory to India” and was a commonly uttered slogan, whether it is at the end of prayers by school children or speeches by eminent persons..“In such a moment of reflection and soul searching, for some youth, it's a natural way of expression to end an essay or a speech with some patriotic slogan summarizing the essence of the topic such as ‘Jai Hind.’ So, in this case, ‘Jai Hind - Let us live united with nature’ appears to be a natural, spontaneous and effective culmination of the essay on the given topic rather than any tacit signal of attempting any malpractice,” the Court said..The judge also recounted that ‘Jai Hind’ was coined by the Indian revolutionary Champaka Raman Pillai during British rule in 1907. Its importance grew after Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose immortalised it as a battle cry for his Indian National Army (INA), the Court added.“It is the last word to be seen in several communications wherever the patriotic fervour is invoked towards the motherland i.e., India or Bharat,” the judge further observed..The Court, therefore, directed the TNPSC to roll back its decision to invalidate the candidate’s answer paper in this case and evaluate her essay to determine whether she would make the cut off to be selected as a candidate..The exam in question for Group-II services took place in November 2014.The candidate before the Court had also attended an interview and counselling round in 2015, before she was told that she did not make the cut as she only secured 184 marks, which was 6 marks short of the required 190 marks.After inquiries, the candidate came to know in 2016 that her answer sheet during the essay round was invalidated in its entirety because she had made “irrelevant” or “impertinent” remarks at the end of her essay. The TNPSC said that this was in violation of its instructions to exam candidates. .The candidate, however, maintained that her closing remarks were relevant to the essay she had written in answer to the question, "Write a detailed account on importance and conservation of natural resources.”Therefore, she moved a petition before the High Court for relief. The Court found merit in her stance, observing,“Those persons, who are having the idea of ‘patriotism’, definitely safeguard the natural resources for the benefit of the future generations ... There is no any dispute that we have to live with the nature. As such, while writing essay, on the issue of importance and conservation of natural resources, at conclusion writing as ‘Jai Hind – Let us live united with nature’ by the petitioner is very relevant.”The Court, therefore, struck down the TNPSC’s decision to reject her answer paper in a ‘routine’ manner as illegal and unconstitutional.The TNPSC was ordered to evaluate the candidate’s essay and appoint her to the post if she makes the cut off within four weeks after it receives a copy of the November 6 order..Advocate G Karthik appeared for the petitioner-candidate. Standing counsel V Panneer Selvam appeared for the TNPSC..[Read Order]