Jharkhand High Court quashes government decision to cancel JSSC CGL examination

The Jharkhand High Court has quashed the state government's decision to cancel the JSSC CGL (Advertisement No. 10/2023) examination. The court of Justice Deepak Roshan termed the government's step as improper, unjust, and illegal. Due to this verdict, the sword hanging over the jobs of approximately 1,932 to 2,000 selected candidates has been removed, and they will be able to continue their services with the Jharkhand government. This news is being viewed as a Diwali gift for the candidates.

In this case, petitioners including Ramesh Oraon, Akash Gaurav, and Niroj Khes had approached the High Court, following which this significant judgment was delivered on Friday. The court severely criticised the government's decision to cancel the entire recruitment process. The court clarified that it is wrong to cancel an entire examination on a collective level or based on mass cancellation. The court noted that the government cannot nullify previous judicial decisions merely by citing that some new material has been found in the investigation or some arrests have been made.

The court further stated that no innocent or successful candidate can be dismissed from their job unless criminal prosecution is initiated against them or their guilt is proven. The court stated in strong terms that no executive decision can be contrary to the orders of the court or the Supreme Court. The government cannot take such arbitrary steps by ignoring the decisions of the courts.

Clarification was also provided regarding the directions of the Supreme Court in this matter. During the hearing, it was decided that the Supreme Court's directions would remain intact. This means that if a specific candidate is proven to be involved in corruption or irregularities by the investigating agency, they will be barred from employment in the future. The High Court has ordered that the investigation into the entire matter should continue in a completely impartial and independent manner until a logical conclusion is reached. The court expressed hope that the investigation would be expedited and the petitioners would extend full cooperation. It was also clarified that this court order would not affect the ongoing criminal investigation.

Senior Advocate Meenakshi Arora represented the state government in this legal battle. Meanwhile, senior advocates Rajiv Ranjan, Gopal Shankar Narayan, Indrajit Sinha, and Amrish Vatsa argued on behalf of the successful candidates and petitioners.

Earlier, in August, the Soren government had cancelled this examination amidst allegations of alleged irregularities and paper leaks. Following this decision, candidates had protested on a large scale and demanded reforms in the recruitment process. Amidst these allegations of irregularities, the government had previously cancelled several recruitment examinations. In this matter, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had also arrested two individuals linked to irregularities in the examination. Candidates were fighting a legal battle for justice and transparency in the recruitment process.

According to a report by the Times of India, the High Court took this decision following the protests by candidates and allegations of irregularities. According to a report by Amar Ujala, Justice Deepak Roshan's court termed the government's decision as unjust. This verdict has brought great relief to thousands of youths who had been going through uncertainty and mental stress for a long time. This incident has proven that the rule of law is supreme in the administrative system and the rights of hardworking youths cannot be violated in the name of collective action.