Jharkhand HC quashes govt order cancelling JSSC CGL appointments, CID probe to continue

Ranchi: The Jharkhand High Court has set aside the state government's decision to cancel the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission's (JSSC) Combined Graduate Level (CGL) examination and the appointments made on its basis. The decision has provided major relief to candidates who had been selected and appointed through the recruitment process.

However, the court allowed the probe into irregularities in the examination to continue.

Justice Deepak Roshan delivered the verdict on Friday while hearing petitions filed by successful candidates challenging the government's order.

The state government, on August 18, had cancelled the CGL examination, certain other recruitment tests, and the appointments made through them, citing a CID investigation report and protests by aspirants.

The petitioners, including candidate Akash Gaurav, argued before the court that individuals involved in any wrongdoing could be identified and proceeded against separately.

They contended that it was neither fair nor justified to scrap the entire selection process and invalidate all appointments because of the alleged misconduct of a few candidates.

The state government, meanwhile, submitted a sealed report to the court, claiming that the recruitment process had been marred by large-scale irregularities and systemic failures.

During the hearings, however, the court observed that all selected candidates could not be presumed guilty only on the basis of allegations of wrongdoing in the examination process.

The High Court had reserved its judgment on October 8 after hearing arguments from all parties. On the same day, it continued its interim stay on the government's cancellation order, allowing affected employees to remain in service until the final verdict.

Earlier, on September 18, the court had appointed retired judge Gautam Kumar Choudhary to monitor the investigation into the alleged irregularities.

Retired IPS officer R.K. Mallik was designated as the nodal officer to assist in the probe.

The court had also directed that candidates selected through a fair process should not be harassed in the name of the investigation.

With its latest ruling, the High Court has struck a blow to the state's decision to annul the appointments while making it clear that the CID investigation into the alleged examination scam will continue. The detailed order is yet to be released.

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