Chandigarh, Dec 17 (IANS) In a blow to the Punjab government before assembly elections, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Saturday stayed the appointment of 668 panchayat secretaries in the state.
The high court stayed the appointments on the petitions filed by over 30 candidates who were not selected.
The state's Rural Development and Panchayats Departments had made the appointments recently following selections made by the Punjab Subordinate Services Selection Board.
The department had not included the names of the petitioners stating that their qualification certificates were not eligible as they had passed their computer application course from ISO 9001:2008 certified institutes.
The petitioners had pleaded that they were told by the department earlier that their certificates were valid.
Assembly elections in Punjab are likely to be held early next year.
