The Rajasthan High Court has upheld the validity of the normalization process applied to the 2021 Patwari recruitment examination and affirmed that accommodating female candidates to appear one day prior due to Karva Chauth observance was neither discriminatory nor unconstitutional. A division bench comprising Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati and Justice Chandra Prakash Shrimali reviewed a batch of special appeal writ petitions challenging the State's recruitment process and specifically targeted the normalization methodology and shift scheduling.
The exam had been conducted in four shifts over two days in October 2021 to manage the participation of over 5 lakh female candidates from many shifts choosing to appear before Karva Chauth. In deference to their religious observance, the Board allowed a significant portion of female candidates to appear in the first two shifts on the preceding day. The petitioners argued that this scheduling advantage, combined with the later application of a normalization process not disclosed in the original advertisement, created unfair results—also pointing to a disproportionately low success rate among fourth-shift examinees, where only 11% cleared compared to 36% in the first shift. Concern was voiced that none of the candidates in the top 100 ranks had appeared in the fourth shift.
The High Court extensively reviewed the expert committee's recommendation that the normalization formula devised by V. Natarajan and K. Gunasekaran was lawfully applied across all shifts. The Court upheld a single judge’s earlier decision which found that the Board’s procedures complied with the Rules of 2019 and other prevailing norms. According to the bench, the expert committee was independent and credible, and normalization was essential to eliminate disparities in question difficulty across shifts. The bench noted that the process ensured a uniform playing field for all candidates and did not conflict with constitutional mandates or statutory recruitment schemes.
Regarding the scheduling accommodation, the judges clarified that the arrangement benefitting female candidates in observance of Karva Chauth was a reasonable and equitable administrative step. The High Court remarked that scheduling exam shifts around significant social or religious events did not violate equality provisions under Articles 14 or 16. On the contrary, such adjustments reflected sensitivity towards socio-cultural contexts and did not undermine the fairness or legitimacy of the examination as a whole.
In dismissing the appeals, the Court concluded that the normalization methodology and shift scheduling were consistent with lawful standards and did not warrant judicial interference. It held that statistical disparities in performance across shifts did not necessarily imply procedural unfairness. The order reinforces that administrative accommodations and expert-led normalization processes designed in recruitment exams serve equitable objectives when applied uniformly and transparently.
By upholding both the normalization process and the special scheduling accommodation for Karva Chauth, the Rajasthan High Court effectively validated the final selection list for the Patwari recruitment. The appeals were summarily dismissed, reaffirming the Board’s procedural integrity and the legitimacy of its expert-supported examination design.
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