RANCHI: In a significant setback for the Hemant Soren government, the Jharkhand High Court on Tuesday placed a stay on the results of the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission Combined Graduate Level (JSSC-CGL) exam.
The court asked the state government to file an FIR under the Conduct of Examination Act 2023, following the complaint about an alleged paper leak, and to submit a report after completing the investigation.
The order was passed by the court while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the JSSC-CGL examination paper leak case.
The court directed that the results should not be released until it issues further instructions. The court will hear the matter next on January 22, 2025.
Advocates Sanjoy Piparwal and Prince Kumar argued on behalf of JSSC, while senior advocate Ajit Kumar represented the petitioners.
“The court in its speaking order has put a stay on the publication of the final merit list of JSSC-CGL examinations conducted on September 20 and 21, 2024,” said former Advocate General Ajit Kumar.
Notably, students have been protesting for a long time, demanding the cancellation of the results declared by the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC), citing significant irregularities in the process.
According to the students, only 82 candidates qualified in the exam held on September 21, whereas 2,178 passed in the exam held on September 22. They also alleged that the answers to the questions were available to many candidates even before the start of the first shift of the examination on September 22.
Students have three main demands: first, the immediate cancellation of the JSSC-CGL exam; secondly, the assurance of transparency and fairness in the examination process; and lastly, a high-level investigation into the irregularities in the examination and recruitment, with strict action against the culprits.
Notably, the JSSC-CGL examination had sparked controversy earlier as well, following the state government’s decision to disrupt internet services across the state for more than six hours during the exams on September 21 and 22.
Internet services were restored across the state on September 22 only after the intervention of the Jharkhand High Court.
