Jharkhand HC Stays JPSC Exam Cancellation; Students Allege Govt Deceit
RANCHI: The Jharkhand High Court on Thursday stayed the operation of notifications cancelling appointments made through the 11th and 13th Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) examinations, providing temporary relief to successful candidates who had been protesting against the state government's decision.
The court, while hearing a batch of petitions challenging the cancellation, also stayed the order terminating the appointments of food safety officers. Justice Deepak Roshan directed the state government to file its reply by September 15, the next date of hearing.
According to the interim order, candidates selected in the 11th and 13th JPSC exams who were affected by the government's notification will continue to hold their offices. However, the court clarified that if any irregularity is found in the appointment of a candidate during the investigation, that person will face consequences and lose the job.
The development came after successful candidates of these exams staged protests, fearing loss of their jobs. In response to a 25-day student agitation over alleged irregularities in recruitment exams, the Hemant Soren-led government on August 18 cancelled 22 exams and ordered a probe into 23 others conducted since 2014.
Following the high court's order, student leaders criticised the government, alleging that it had deceived lakhs of students by failing to present its case properly before the court.
Kunal Pratap Singh, a leader of the JPSC-JSSC Reform Manch, claimed that the advocate general representing the government did not appear in court. "What did we get in return? Deceit. If it is any case of the CM himself, advocates like Kapil Sibal come from Delhi. But when such an important matter of the students of Jharkhand is heard in high court, the advocate general doesn't even appear before the court," Singh said.
He alleged that the absence of the government's legal team was a deliberate move. "This clearly shows that this was a trap - a trap to end the protest, ruin 26 days of our hard work and play with the emotions of the students of Jharkhand," he added.
Singh also warned the chief minister against underestimating the students. "The CM himself had said that a massive corrupt system is active. Despite saying that, if the CM takes us for fools, he will be committing a grave mistake. If he feels that students of Jharkhand cannot gather together once again, he should come out of this illusion," he said.
Another student leader, Ravindra Paswan, said that a "new fight" would begin against the government. "With whatever we saw in the court today, it became clear that the government deceived the lakhs of students in Jharkhand. It was fine until you were not cancelling the exam, until you were not agreeing to a CBI investigation," Paswan said.
"But after this deceit with students, a new fight takes birth. We, the students, will give you an answer for this. You deceived not only the lakhs of students in Jharkhand but also the general public and parents of the state," he added.
The high court's stay order does not end the investigation into the alleged irregularities. The government is still expected to probe the exams, and the court has kept the matter open for further hearing. Until then, the selected candidates will retain their posts, subject to the outcome of the investigation.
