Jharkhand High Court now stays orders cancelling JSSC-CGL and CDPO appointments

Ranchi:The Jharkhand High Court on Friday stayed the cancellation of the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission Combined Graduate Level (JSSC CGL) exam and Child Development Project Officer (CDPO) exam.

The stay on cancellation of appointments came after the court heard four separate petitions challenging the Hemant Soren government’s decision to cancel the recruitment examinations conducted by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) and Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC) and the subsequent appointments.

The bench of Justice Deepak Roshan stayed the implementation of the government order cancelling appointments related to the JSSC-CGL and CDPO (Child Development Project Officer) examinations.

Earlier, on Thursday, the court granted an interim stay on the orders cancelling appointments made through the JPSC 11th–13th Combined Civil Services and Food Safety Officer examinations.

During the hearing, the court granted the state government time until September 7 to file its response. The petitioners were directed to file a rejoinder to the government’s response by September 14. During the proceedings, Advocate General Rohit Rai also requested the court to set a specific timeframe for the government to file affidavits in all such cases.

In Friday’s hearing, the court sought responses from the state government and the commissions concerned regarding the CDPO and JSSC-CGL cases. The government is required to explain the grounds for cancelling these examinations and appointments, as well as the facts revealed during the investigation.

Notably, on August 18, the state government took major decisions regarding recruitment processes based on the ongoing CID investigation into alleged irregularities in competitive examinations.

The government announced the cancellation of 22 examinations, the suspension of the process for six others, and a decision to bring 17 additional recruitment examinations – conducted since 2014 — under the ambit of the investigation.

Subsequently, notifications regarding these measures were issued by the Department of Personnel, Administrative Reforms, and Official Language. These decisions have affected a large number of candidates who had cleared the respective exams, secured appointments, and, in many instances, even commenced service.

IANS