The Jharkhand High Court has rejected the state government’s request for four weeks to file a response in the JSSC-CGL cancellation case, granting only two additional days instead.
At Tuesday’s hearing, the court directed the government to submit its status report in a sealed envelope, with the case’s interim stay on cancelled appointments remaining in effect.
The court’s stay applies to appointments made under Advertisement No. 10/2023, offering temporary relief to 99 candidates, in a case filed by Akash Gaurav and 98 others.
The case also covers cancelled recruitment advertisements for the JPSC, JSSC CGL-2023, CDPO and Food Safety Officer examinations, with the next hearing scheduled for September 18 at 10:30 am.
The cancellations stem from an August 17 announcement by Chief Minister Hemant Soren following a 24-day student protest over alleged recruitment irregularities, with a separate Supreme Court petition also seeking a CBI probe into the matter.
The Jharkhand High Court’s stay applies to appointments made under Advertisement No. 10/2023, granting temporary relief to 99 candidates who had already been appointed.
The stay order was originally issued on September 8, with the interim protection for the appointed candidates remaining in effect since.
Petitioner Akash Gaurav and 98 other affected candidates are represented by senior counsel and former Advocate General Rajeev Ranjan, along with advocate Shreya Mishra.
Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora represented the Jharkhand government at Tuesday’s hearing, where the state sought four weeks to file a detailed response.
The case also covers cancelled recruitment advertisements for the JPSC, JSSC CGL-2023, CDPO and Food Safety Officer examinations, affecting thousands of applicants.
The cancellations trace back to an August 17 announcement by Chief Minister Hemant Soren, made after a 24-day student protest over alleged recruitment irregularities.
The government simultaneously scrapped all examinations conducted by blacklisted agency TSR Data Processing Private Limited and ordered a CID probe into recruitment exams dating back to 2014.
High Court of Jharkhand, Ranchi, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
