The legal battle launched by affected candidates against Jharkhand government’s decision to cancel 22 recruitment examinations witnessed another twist as the high court stayed the state government’s order on Thursday.
The cancelled examinations include recruitment tests for drug inspectors, assistant professors, deputy collectors, dental doctors, assistant engineers, civil judges, additional public prosecutors and forest range officers, among others. The list also includes examinations for lecturers in government polytechnics, senior scientific officers, assistant conservators of forests and various administrative and technical posts. The petitioners also invoked the principles of natural justice in their defence. They argued that while action should be taken against any candidate found to have played a dubious role during the investigation, it would be unjust to remove all successful candidates from their jobs without an individual inquiry or hearing.
The Jharkhand government had said the cancellations followed “complaints regarding irregularities in ongoing examinations conducted by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) and executed through TDPL, and based on facts brought before the government during the CID investigation.
In the JSSC-CGL case, some petitioners have also argued that the examination results were declared in compliance with earlier High Court orders, raising questions over the legality of the government’s subsequent decision to cancel the entire examination.
