By The Jharkhand High Court gave the state government only two days to respond in the JSSC-CGL cancellation case, rejecting its request for four weeks.
The court ordered a sealed-envelope status report at Tuesday’s hearing, while its interim stay on the cancelled appointments remains active.
The stay covers appointments under Advertisement No. 10/2023, offering relief to 99 candidates, in a petition filed by Akash Gaurav and 98 others.
The case also involves cancelled recruitment advertisements for the JPSC, JSSC CGL-2023, CDPO and Food Safety Officer exams, with the next hearing on September 18 at 10:30 am.
The cancellations followed CM Hemant Soren’s August 17 announcement after a 24-day student protest, with a separate Supreme Court plea also seeking a CBI probe.
Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora represented the Jharkhand government at Tuesday’s hearing, where the state sought four weeks to file a detailed response.
The case also covers cancelled recruitment advertisements for the JPSC, JSSC CGL-2023, CDPO and Food Safety Officer examinations, affecting thousands of applicants.
The cancellations trace back to an August 17 announcement by Chief Minister Hemant Soren, made after a 24-day student protest over alleged recruitment irregularities.
The government simultaneously scrapped all examinations conducted by blacklisted agency TSR Data Processing Private Limited and ordered a CID probe into recruitment exams dating back to 2014.
A separate committee headed by senior IAS officer Amitabh Kaushal has been tasked with framing rules to prevent future examination irregularities.
In parallel, a Supreme Court petition filed by activist Harisharan Devgan is separately seeking to transfer the recruitment-irregularities investigation from the state CID to the CBI.
Successful JSSC-CGL candidates who had already secured appointments staged protests, including a human chain and torchlight demonstrations, after the cancellation was first announced.
The Jharkhand High Court’s stay applies to appointments made under Advertisement No. 10/2023, granting temporary relief to 99 candidates who had already been appointed.
High Court of Jharkhand, Ranchi, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
