JE Exams to go ahead despite UPSC clash: CAT

‘31,000 candidates can’t suffer for 4 aspirants’

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Aug 21: The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Jammu Bench comprising Sanjeev Gupta (Judicial Member) and Pragya Sahay Saksena (Administrative Member) has refused to interfere with the schedule of Junior Engineer (JE) recruitment examinations, dismissing a plea by four aspirants who sought postponement citing clash with the UPSC Civil Services Main Examination 2025.
The JE (Electrical) exam is set for August 24 and JE (Civil) exam for August 31, dates which overlap with the UPSC Mains scheduled from August 22 to 31.
The petitioners-Wasaf Hussain Shah of Poonch, Adarsh Bhargav of Rajouri, Ankit Kumar of Samba and Junaid Mushtaq of Anantnag approached the tribunal requesting rescheduling of the JE (Electrical) and JE (Civil) examinations being conducted by the J&K Service Selection Board (JKSSB). They argued that since they had qualified the UPSC prelims (declared on June 11, 2025), the clash of dates would deprive them of a fair opportunity to attempt both prestigious examinations.
Senior Advocate Abhinav Sharma, representing the applicants, contended that the JKSSB’s decision to hold JE (Electrical) exam on August 24 and JE (Civil) exam on August 31 was arbitrary and discriminatory. He pointed out that the UPSC mains are scheduled from August 22 to 31, directly overlapping with the state recruitment tests. The counsel argued that this amounted to a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution (Right to Equality).
On behalf of the Government, Senior AAG Monika Kohli and other counsels opposed the plea, submitting that 13,034 candidates are registered for 292 JE (Electrical) posts and 18,885 candidates for 508 JE (Civil) posts. Postponement was sought by only four candidates out of more than 31,000 aspirants.
“Examination preparations, including printing of stationery, venue booking, staff deployment, and security arrangements, were already complete. Any delay at this stage would lead to administrative chaos, financial loss and wastage of resources”, the Senior AAG further submitted.
The counsels argued that the petitioners approached the Tribunal belatedly on August 2, 2025 despite exam dates being notified as early as July 1, 2025.
After hearing both sides, the CAT held that the applicants’ concerns, though genuine cannot outweigh the rights of thousands of other candidates, who have prepared on the basis of the notified schedule. The plea was filed only four days before the examination leaving no scope for logistical changes.
Pointing towards the Supreme Court judgments, the CAT dismissed the plea in limine (at the admission stage), refusing to interfere with the recruitment schedule. It observed that 31,000 candidates cannot be made to suffer for the inconvenience of four aspirants, and that public resources already invested in the exercise must not go waste.

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