Mail News Service
Ranchi, Oct 31: The Jharkhand High Court on Friday upheld its interim order restraining the publication of the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC) Combined Graduate Level (CGL) examination results.
The decision came during a hearing on a public interest litigation (PIL) demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged paper leak.
The bench of Chief Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Rajesh Shankar heard detailed arguments from various parties.
Appearing for the state government, Advocate General Rajeev Ranjan informed the court that the CID investigation so far had found no evidence of any paper leak.
He stated that the repetition of certain questions from previous years’ exams did not constitute a leak.
On behalf of the intervenors, Senior Supreme Court Advocate Gopal Shankar Narayan and Advocate Amritansh Vats argued that neither the question paper nor answer sheets were leaked, and no complaints were received from any examination centers.
They contended that the continued stay on the results was therefore unjustified.
JSSC’s counsel, Sanjoy Piparwal, also presented his arguments before the court.
After hearing the submissions, the bench scheduled the next hearing for November 3, to allow the petitioners—candidates who filed the PIL—to present their side.
The JSSC CGL examination was conducted on September 21 and 22, 2024, across 823 centers in various districts of Jharkhand, with nearly 3,04,769 candidates appearing.
Based on the evaluation, the Commission had released a shortlist of 2,145 candidates on December 5, 2024.
However, following allegations of paper leak and irregularities, Rajesh Kumar and others filed a PIL seeking a CBI investigation.
Acting on the plea, the High Court on December 17, 2024, imposed an interim stay on the publication of the results until further orders.
The court also directed the state government to register FIRs under the Jharkhand Competitive Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2023, for any credible complaints and to submit a detailed investigation report.
Consequently, the CID has been conducting a probe into the alleged malpractice.
