HC sets aside Jharkhand govt order cancelling exams amid protests against irregularities

The Jharkhand High Court on Friday set aside the state government’s order cancelling the Combined Graduate Level (CGL) examinations and the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC) recruitment process, as students took to the streets against alleged irregularities in July and August.

The court observed that there was no definitive or widespread evidence on record proving a complete paper leak compromised the selection of the entire pool of successful candidates. Over 1,900 selected candidates had cleared the exams.

In August, the cancellation of the JSSC-CGL examination and all other recruitment tests conducted by the private firm TSR Data Processing Private Limited met one of the main demands of students protesting alleged irregularities in the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) examinations. Chief minister Hemant Soren also promised to look into irregularities in all recruitment exams in the state since 2014.

Students protested against alleged irregularities for 24 days. Some of them sat on a hunger strike for 16 days.

A bench of Justice Deepak Roshan ruled in favour of the successful candidates, effectively restoring the JSSC-CGL selection process. It clarified that the ongoing Criminal Investigation Department (CID) probe into individual cases of exam malpractice and fraud will continue uninterrupted. The court said final appointment of the recruits would be subject to the outcome of the finality of the ongoing probe.

The state government issued a blanket notification cancelling the entire JSSC-CGL recruitment drive, citing interim CID findings and student protests.

The petitioners, including Akash Gaurav, who cleared the exam, moved the high court. They argued that penalising all hard-working and deserving candidates for the misdeeds of a corrupt few was inherently unjust, especially since investigative agencies had identified suspect candidates.

The government presented a sealed cover report in the court citing massive system failures.

Rajeev Ranjan, who appeared on behalf of the successful candidates in the court, said a detailed order is expected to be uploaded on the website by Saturday.