Jharkhand High Court stays cancellation of state public service commission exams, appointments
The Jharkhand High Court has stayed the state government's decision to cancel the 11th and 13th Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) examinations and the appointments made through them, providing relief to newly appointed officers who challenged the move.
The court issued the order while hearing petitions filed by several newly appointed officers against the government's decision.
Officers challenge government order
The petitioners argued that the state government had cancelled the examinations and subsequent appointments without giving the selected candidates an opportunity to present their case.
Several candidates had already joined government service after being selected through the recruitment process. They contended that cancelling their appointments without an individual inquiry had placed their jobs at risk.
The petitioners also invoked the principles of natural justice, arguing that if individual candidates were found to have been involved in wrongdoing, action could be taken against them after due investigation and hearing.
However, they maintained that all successful candidates should not be penalised without establishing individual culpability.
Government cancels 44 recruitment exams
The court's intervention comes after the Hemant Soren-led Jharkhand government released a list of 44 recruitment examinations conducted by the JPSC and Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC) that had been cancelled over alleged irregularities.
The decision followed a 25-day student agitation over alleged anomalies in recruitment examinations.
The state government also announced the formation of a committee to examine possible reforms in the JPSC and JSSC examination systems.
Several key recruitment tests affected
The cancelled examinations included recruitment tests for several important government posts, including:
- Drug inspectors
- Assistant professors
- Deputy collectors
- Dental doctors
- Assistant engineers
- Civil judges
- Additional public prosecutors
- Forest range officers
- Lecturers in government polytechnics
- Senior scientific officers
- Assistant conservators of forests
The list also covered various other administrative and technical posts.
Jobs hang in the balance
The cancellation had directly affected candidates who had already been selected and, in several cases, had assumed government duties.
The petitioners argued that while irregularities in recruitment processes must be investigated, blanket cancellation of examinations and appointments could unfairly affect candidates who had cleared the selection process without any wrongdoing on their part.
The High Court's interim order has, for now, provided relief to the affected officers while the legal challenge to the government's decision proceeds.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
