Mail News Service
Ranchi, August 14: The Jharkhand High Court on Thursday dealt a major setback to the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) by indirectly halting the release of results for the 342 posts advertised under the 11th to 13th JPSC combined recruitment examinations. Acting on a petition filed by a differently-abled candidate, the court directed JPSC to submit the complete results along with the merit list, broken down caste and category-wise, for judicial review. The next hearing in the matter is scheduled for November 10, 2025.
The petition, filed by Divyang candidate Rahul Vardhan, came up for hearing before Justice Anand Sen. Vardhan challenged the appointment of other candidates against five seats reserved for the Divyang quota. According to the petitioner, while 13 seats were earmarked for differently-abled candidates, only eight were awarded to eligible Divyangs, and the remaining five were filled by non-Divyang candidates.
During the proceedings, the court found the petitioner’s claims to be correct. It observed that allotting reserved Divyang seats to non-Divyang candidates was a violation of the reservation policy. The bench directed JPSC to keep these five seats reserved for eligible differently-abled candidates, effectively compelling the commission to revise the results.
The development has put JPSC in a difficult position, as the commission will now have to determine the future of the five candidates who were earlier declared successful on these seats. The order also highlighted procedural lapses, as per the High Court, which noted that under the reservation rules, any unfilled reserved seats should be carried forward to the next recruitment year — a provision JPSC failed to follow this time.
The court’s directions meant that the final declaration of results for the 342 posts would be delayed until the commission complied with the order and presented the revised list before the court.
With the High Court keeping a close watch on the recruitment process, the case had drawn attention to the importance of strictly adhering to reservation norms, particularly for the differently-abled community. The outcome of the November hearing will decide not only the fate of the five disputed seats but may also set a precedent for future recruitment exercises in the state.
