Ranchi: On Friday, the Jharkhand High Court delivered its verdict on several petitions challenging the state government’s order to cancel the JSSC-CGL (Advertisement No. 10/2023) recruitment process. The bench of Justice Deepak Roshan quashed the state government’s notification dated August 18, 2026, which had canceled the said advertisement. As a result of this High Court order, approximately 1,932 to 2,000 candidates will retain their jobs.
During the proceedings, the court stated that the Supreme Court’s directives on this matter would remain in effect; candidates identified as guilty will be excluded from employment. The court further emphasized that neither the government nor any authority can bypass the Supreme Court’s guidelines. It is worth noting that the Supreme Court had previously ruled that any candidates found guilty during the investigation would be denied appointment.
Justice Deepak Roshan’s bench delivered the judgment on various petitions—including those filed by Ramesh Oraon and others, Akash Gaurav and others, and Niroj Khes and others—that challenged the cancellation of the recruitment. Senior Advocate Meenakshi Arora represented the state government, while Senior Advocate Rajeev Ranjan, along with advocates Gopal Shankarnarayanan, Indrajit Sinha, and Amritansh Vats, presented arguments on behalf of the petitioners.
In earlier hearings, the petitioners had informed the court that the JSSC-CGL matter had already been adjudicated by both the High Court and the Supreme Court. They argued that since the court had previously ordered a distinction to be made between the guilty and the innocent—with the status of appointments contingent upon the outcome of criminal prosecutions—there was no justification for reopening the matter to cancel the entire recruitment process. They contended that such an action amounts to contempt of court, especially given that the Supreme Court has already issued clear guidelines on the issue.
The petitioners alleged that the government canceled the JSSC-CGL recruitment solely to appease protesting students. The state government stated that the JSSC-CGL examination was cancelled due to large-scale irregularities and corruption. A systemic failure occurred because the agency entrusted with conducting the examination allowed the question paper to be leaked. Through this agency, candidates were provided with the answers to the questions—in some cases, even in Nepal—which compromised the transparency of the examination.
The government informed the court that maintaining public confidence in the recruitment process is essential, making the cancellation of the entire examination necessary. Investigations are ongoing, and concrete evidence of malpractice has been uncovered. Documents obtained provide clear proof of irregularities and corruption, confirming that the examination was not conducted fairly. It is difficult to distinguish between the candidates who were complicit and those who were innocent. Consequently, the Cabinet decided to cancel the examination, citing the leakage of the question paper and the irregularities that took place.
