RANCHI: The Jharkhand High Court has stayed the state government's order cancelling the JSSC-CGL and CDPO examinations, bringing significant relief to candidates selected through the exams.
The government's decision to cancel the examinations had jeopardised their appointments and employment. However, the court's stay has now provided them with temporary relief.
The state government had decided to cancel several competitive examinations, including the JSSC-CGL, following an inquiry into alleged irregularities in the recruitment process.
After the examination was cancelled, candidates selected through the JSSC-CGL exam approached the High Court to challenge the decision. Their petition argued that while action should indeed be taken against those responsible for any irregularities at any stage of the exam, cancelling the entire examination and the resulting appointments was not justified.
A total of 1,932 candidates were selected following the JSSC-CGL results. Many of them have already received appointments and are working in various government departments. However, the government's decision to cancel the examination jeopardised their appointments.
The selected candidates maintained that they took the exam under the prescribed selection process, succeeded and subsequently received their appointments.
If any irregularities occurred during the examination process, accountability should be fixed accordingly; candidates who played no role in any wrongdoing cannot be punished collectively.
On Thursday, the Jharkhand High Court also stayed the state government's decision to cancel the appointments related to the JPSC 11th-13th Civil Services and Food Safety Officers. While staying the decision until further orders, the court directed that all concerned individuals should continue with their work.
The court also sought a response from the state government regarding this matter. The next hearing is scheduled for September 15.
Earlier, the officers who were removed from service following the cancellation of the JSSC-CGL appointments had been staging a sit-in protest since August 18, demanding the withdrawal of the JSSC-CGL cancellation order.
On Thursday, these officers staged a sit-in protest in front of Project Bhawan throughout the day and, in the evening, took out a 'Tiranga Yatra' from Morhabadi to Albert Ekka Chowk.
Notably, the Jharkhand government's decision to cancel 22 examinations conducted by the TDPL agency had sparked another protest by those who had already passed the examinations and were in jobs until Monday, but all of a sudden, they lost them following the announcement made by Chief Minister Hemant Soren the very next day.
The very office where they worked until Monday had now become alien to them on Tuesday. The decision triggered an uproar among candidates who had already cleared the exams and were posted in different positions across the state, including the secretariat.
The disgruntled employees had been sitting on dharna after Chief Minister Hemant Soren announced the cancellation of 22 examinations, allegedly under pressure from the protest by the JPSC-JSSC Reform Manch.