Bhubaneswar: The Orissa High Court has annulled the mains examination for Assistant Section Officers (ASOs) that was scheduled for July 13, citing concerns about the integrity of the examination process. The court has announced December 7 as the new date for the examination, which will be taken by 7,113 candidates who passed the preliminary exam held on May 4, according to a notification from Registrar (Examination) S K Dash Ray released on Wednesday. The court expressed serious reservations regarding the administration of the mains written examination by the agency responsible, leading to the cancellation of the July 13 exam to uphold fairness in the selection process.
The upcoming written examination will cover three subjects: English, General Awareness and Reasoning, and Mathematics, and will be conducted in three sessions. Candidates can obtain their e-admit cards from the recruitment section of the High Court’s website from November 17 to December 5, Ray noted. Reports indicate that the cancellation was influenced by the involvement of Silicon Tech, a firm implicated in the SI recruitment scandal, which conducted the previous exam. The Crime Branch of Odisha Police has arrested 126 individuals in connection with the SI recruitment case, including 114 candidates.