Jharkhand HC halts cancellation of JSSC-CGL exam
After a 26-day student protest, the Hemant Soren government decided to cancel the JSSC-CGL exam.
Jharkhand High Court has stayed the Hemant Soren government's decision to cancel the 11th-13th Jharkhand Combined Civil Services Examination. Additionally, the court has also stayed the implementation of notifications that annulled the appointments of government employees recruited through this examination.
According to a report by Indian Express, this stay came just days after the state government cancelled 22 recruitment examinations/processes, including the 11th-13th JPSC, citing irregularities. The government had either halted or put under investigation 23 other recruitment processes. This decision followed a 26-day student agitation, where one of the main demands of the protestors was the cancellation of the JSSC-CGL examination. According to the Personnel, Administrative Reforms and Rajbhasha Department's notification dated August 18, the government cancelled 22 recruitment examinations/processes, suspended six pending investigations, and handed over the investigation of 17 old JPSC recruitments to the CID. In total, 45 recruitment processes were affected by these decisions.
The government's actions have impacted almost every special recruitment in the state—from civil servants, judges, and government lawyers to engineers, doctors, dentists, agricultural officers, forest officers, scientists, and university teachers.
However, the impact is not uniform for everyone. While lakhs of candidates face the prospect of the recruitment process starting anew, the progress of candidates who have cleared several stages of the examination has been nullified. Those who have already joined government service face even more complex questions—what will happen to their appointments and what is the future of the positions they currently hold?
Among the 22 recruitment examinations/processes cancelled by the government, four had reached the appointment stage or had already seen appointments. These included the 11th-13th Jharkhand Combined Civil Services Examination, through which 342 positions were filled. The JSSC Combined Graduate Level Examination (JSSC-CGL) had seen the appointment of 1,932 candidates. Additionally, the Child Development Project Officer (CDPO) recruitment involved 64 positions, and the Food Safety Officer recruitment involved 56 positions. The remaining cancelled recruitments were at various stages of the selection and appointment process.
For Ashish Akshat, who secured rank-1 in the 11th-13th JPSC Combined Civil Services Examination and was selected for the State Police Service, this decision came after nearly a year of service and training. He stated that,
he and other selected candidates have not yet been informed by the government about what will happen to their appointments. He said, “We are also trying to understand what is happening. We did not expect this.”
According to Akshat,
the uncertainty is extremely difficult after years of exam preparation and starting a new life according to the new job. He said, “The situation is unclear. We also do not know what to do now or what will happen next.”
A state tax officer selected through the same examination stated that,
the future of officers already in service before the exam was cancelled is also uncertain. He has been serving in Jharkhand since December, and his training is almost complete. According to him, apart from the government order cancelling the exam, he or his colleagues have not received any separate information or instructions. He said, “Everything is in limbo.”
On the condition of anonymity, the officer revealed that before quitting his job to prepare for the civil service examination, he had worked for eight years at Coal India Limited. Before that, he had also worked in the private sector. He questioned,
if there has been any wrongdoing, it is a failure of the system. But how can a person who passed the exam and got appointed without any evidence be held responsible?”
The immediate cause of the student agitation was the controversy related to the 14th Jharkhand Combined Civil Services Examination conducted by JPSC this April. After the preliminary examination, candidates raised questions about the results. They raised issues about the non-disclosure of category-wise cut-offs and the absence of signatures of JPSC members on the results. The controversy escalated when an OMR sheet of a candidate went viral on social media. It was claimed that the candidate had passed the preliminary examination, while the marks shown on the viral OMR sheet appeared to be below the cut-off. However, the authenticity of the viral OMR sheet has not been independently verified. Subsequently, candidates questioned the fairness of the examination and the evaluation process.
Even before the student agitation began, on July 22, the state government had handed over the investigation of the matter to the CID. The CID later formed an SIT, conducted raids at the JPSC office and the premises of people associated with the examination, and began making arrests. The examination agency TSR Data Processing and Technical Limited (TDPL) also came under the investigation's ambit. The Uttar Pradesh government had already blacklisted TDPL, and JSSC blacklisted it in May 2025. Among those arrested was the company's marketing manager Abhay Tiwari alias Manoj Tiwari, who was also working as a Block Supply Officer in Godda. The scope of the investigation continued to expand, and around 25 people have been arrested so far. Later, former JPSC chairman L. Khiangte was also arrested.
As the investigation into the JPSC matter progressed, the student agitation was no longer limited to the 14th JPSC examination. From July 25, students began protesting in Ranchi, demanding a CBI investigation and action over alleged irregularities in several recruitment examinations. Several rounds of talks took place between the government and the protesting students. Agreement could not be reached on two major demands—CBI investigation and the cancellation of the JSSC Combined Graduate Level (CGL) examination. Initially, the government was not in favour of cancelling the CGL examination, especially since appointments had already been made and the matter had also passed through the courts.
The agitation continued for 26 days. After students gave a deadline of August 18, the government announced the cancellation of the JSSC-CGL examination and exams conducted through TDPL. Following this, students ended the agitation on August 19.
But the very next day, on August 20, the Jharkhand High Court stayed the government's order to cancel the examinations. The government has announced several measures to address irregularities in recruitment examinations and prevent them in the future.
According to the Personnel Department's order, the government will request the Jharkhand High Court to establish fast-track courts for the speedy hearing of cases related to irregularities and misconduct in JPSC and JSSC examinations. An Internal Vigilance Cell will also be created in both commissions.
The government has decided to form a committee headed by IAS officer Amitabh Kaushal to conduct a detailed study of reforms in the examination system of JPSC and JSSC. The committee will include directors of prestigious institutions and other officials. It is to submit its report to the government within two months. According to the Personnel Department's order, the CID will investigate potential irregularities in 17 old examinations. This decision is based on facts that emerged before the government during the ongoing CID investigation of the current JPSC case. These examinations span several years, including the 2010 Commercial Taxes Limited Examination. Most of these recruitments are from before the current JMM government, although some are from the current government's tenure as well.