‘Unjust, unfair’: Jharkhand High Court quashes cancellation of JSSC-CGL exam

On Friday, the Jharkhand High Court overturned the state government's decision to cancel the JSSC-CGL examination, describing the action as "unfair" and "unjust". This decision is anticipated to provide relief to approximately 2,300 candidates who were already selected through the examination before the cancellation notice was issued. The court, however, permitted the investigation into allegations of irregularities to proceed.

Justice Deepak Roshan issued the ruling, stating that an examination cannot be cancelled solely due to protests. The court's counsel, Arpan Ekka, announced that the candidates' existing employment would remain unchanged, and the investigation into the alleged irregularities would continue. The High Court observed that the state government's decision to cancel the exam followed a protest by candidates and student organizations, and they argued that an examination cannot be scrapped merely because of public demonstrations.

The court also contended that candidates involved in irregularities could be identified and held accountable individually; the fault of a few does not justify the annulment of the entire examination and recruitment process. The court found insufficient justification in the state government's counter-affidavit for the cancellation. It noted that the decision seemed hasty and that the government did not provide sufficient grounds for scrapping the examination and appointments.

The Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission Combined Graduate Level (JSSC-CGL) examination was one of 22 recruitment tests cancelled by the Jharkhand government following weeks of student protests over alleged irregularities in the recruitment process. On August 20, the High Court had temporarily halted the government's decision to cancel appointments from the 11th to 13th Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) examinations.

However, the JSSC-CGL examination case was handled independently since it entailed a prior court proceeding and an FIR registered regarding alleged irregularities.