Ranchi:
The Jharkhand High Court has stayed the state government’s decision to cancel appointments made through JPSC recruitment examinations. Hearing the matter on Thursday, the court of Justice Deepak Roshan stayed, until further orders, the government’s decision to cancel appointments related to the JPSC 11th to 13th Combined Civil Services Examination and the Food Safety Officer Examination.
The court has also sought responses from the state government and the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC). The hearing was conducted on petitions filed by successful and selected candidates. Advocates Indrajit Sinha, Amritansh Vats and P.A.S. Pati represented the petitioners.
In two separate petitions, Deepmala and others and Sonam Kumari challenged the government’s decision to cancel Advertisement No. 01/2024 for the JPSC 11th to 13th Combined Civil Services Examination.
Meanwhile, Saurav Singh and others filed a petition challenging the cancellation of appointments for Food Safety Officers. The successful candidates in these examinations had already been appointed, and several had joined service and even completed their training.
In her petition, Sonam Kumari stated that she had left another job to join government service in Jharkhand. She received her appointment letter on November 24, 2025, and had also completed her training. However, the state government cancelled the examination and appointments through a notification issued on August 18. The petition seeks the quashing of the government’s decision.
The petitioners argued before the court that if irregularities occurred at any stage of the recruitment process, they should be investigated and those responsible should be held accountable. However, they contended that it would be unfair to cancel the appointments of candidates who had appeared for the examinations through the prescribed procedure and were selected on the basis of merit without conducting an individual inquiry or giving them an opportunity to be heard.
The petitioners also invoked the principles of natural justice.
It may be recalled that the state government decided late on August 18 to cancel several examinations based on findings that emerged during a CID investigation into alleged irregularities in competitive examinations. Along with cancelling examinations linked to TDPL, the government also ordered an investigation into possible irregularities in various recruitment examinations conducted since 2014.
Subsequently, the Department of Personnel, Administrative Reforms and Rajbhasha issued notifications stating that 22 examinations had been cancelled, the process for six examinations had been suspended, and 17 other examinations had been brought under the scope of the investigation.
Selected and appointed candidates had also launched protests against the government’s decision. The High Court’s interim stay on the cancellation of appointments has now made the matter even more significant. Until the court passes further orders, the government’s decision will not affect the appointments covered by the court’s order.
The next course of action will become clearer after the state government and JPSC submit their responses and the court proceeds with further hearings in the matter.
