The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed that the appointment process for 454 Pharmacist (Pharmacy Officer) posts advertised by Baba Farid University of Health Sciences shall remain stayed till September 17, when it will next hear the petition challenging the recruitment examination.Justice Sandeep Moudgil passed the order on a petition filed by Keshav Kamboj and other petitioners through counsel Ishita Jindal and Sarthak Gupta. They were seeking cancellation of the written examination conducted for recruitment to the posts in Punjab over allegations that it was vitiated by an organised inter-State cheating racket.During the proceedings, advocate K S Dadwal on behalf of certain respondents informed Justice Moudgil’s Bench that the appointment process had been stalled because of the pendency of the writ petition.“Consequently, the appointment process for the posts of Pharmacist (Pharmacy Officer), pursuant to the advertisement dated June 11, issued by Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, for 454 posts, has come to a standstill,” he addedHe, along with the State counsel, sought time to file their replies. Accepting the request, Justice Moudgil deferred the hearing to September 17. “In the meantime, the process of appointment to the posts of Pharmacist (Pharmacy Officer), pursuant to the advertisement dated June 11, shall remain stayed till the next date of hearing,” the Bench added.In his petition, Kamboj and other petitioners were seeking the quashing of the written examination held on July 19, for recruitment Pharmacist, Group-C, under Punjab Department of Health and Family Welfare, pursuant to advertisement dated June 11. The petitioners also prayed for quashing all consequential steps taken or proposed to be taken on its basis, including evaluation of answer sheets and preparation or declaration of the result.It was added that the examination had been vitiated in its entirety by the organised, hi-tech, inter-State cheating racket, as recorded in the press release dated July 19 and FIR dated July 20, “in complete negation of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India.”