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There was a big uproar in the political and administrative circles of Jharkhand when the Jharkhand High Court put an interim stay on the big decision of the Hemant Soren government, under which dozens of recruitment examinations of JPSC and JSSC and the appointments made from them were canceled in one stroke. A single bench of Justice Deepak Roshan passed this order while hearing the petitions of the candidates who were reinstated under other recruitment processes including 11th to 13th Combined Civil Services Examination and Food Safety Officer. The court prima facie held that this step of the government appears to be a violation of the principles of natural justice. With this order of the High Court, hundreds of thousands of newly appointed officers and successful candidates have heaved a sigh of relief, whose jobs were in danger after the government’s decision.
High Court’s interim order and response from the government
The petitions filed in the court had argued that the government unilaterally canceled the appointments of all the successful candidates without any concrete investigation report or evidence of personal involvement. Senior advocates on behalf of the petitioners argued that it is unconstitutional to push the candidates who passed the examination on the basis of their ability and hard work and who have been duly serving or undergoing training in their posts for the last several months, to the brink of dismissal without hearing their sides. Accepting these arguments, the High Court stayed the implementation of the government notifications related to the cancellation and directed the state government to file its detailed reply by September 15, 2026.
Why did Hemant government cancel more than 40 examinations?
In Jharkhand, for the last few weeks, students and youth preparing for competitive exams were agitating on the streets. The main reason for the controversy was the anger over discrepancies in the results of the 14th Civil Services PT exam, viral OMR sheets on social media and the role of the exam conducting agency TSR Data Processing Private Limited (TDPL). Coming under pressure from the 26-day-long massive agitation and hunger strike by the youth, the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms of the state government had decided to cancel more than 22 recruitment examinations and processes, postpone many others and conduct a CID inquiry into 17 old examinations. The government had announced the cancellation of all selection processes and results conducted by TDPL since 2014.
Protest by newly appointed employees and knocking at the court’s door
The biggest blow of this harsh decision of the government was faced by those youth who had come into government service by getting selected in Deputy Collector, DSP, State Tax Officer or JSSC-CGL and other technical cadres under JPSC 11th-13th. About 2,700 newly appointed employees had staged a strong demonstration outside the Project Bhawan (Secretariat) in protest against the sudden cancellation of services. He said that if any agency or some individuals have committed irregularities, then the culprits should be investigated and punished rather than destroying the entire selection process and the livelihood of all the impartially selected employees. On this basis the successful candidates Report by The Indian Express According to him, he took refuge in the High Court, from where he got immediate legal protection.
What happens next: Legal process and future of candidates
Now the situation has become quite interesting and legally complex after the stay of Jharkhand High Court:
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Appointed personnel will remain on their posts: After the order of the High Court, the officers and employees whose appointments were ordered to be canceled will continue to hold their posts for the time being and the immediate threat to their jobs has been averted.
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Next important hearing on September 15: The state government will now have to prove in the High Court on what solid grounds and investigation reports it had taken the decision to cancel the entire examination and appointments. The court will decide the further direction on the reply presented by the government.
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Stance of the agitating students: On the other hand, student groups and opposition parties, which are demanding cancellation of the examination alleging rigging in the examination, have reiterated their demand for a CBI investigation instead of CID.
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Legal and administrative dilemma before the government: On one hand, the state government is facing the challenge of winning the trust of lakhs of students protesting on the streets, while on the other hand, it is facing the pressure of facing court action for removing selected employees without concrete evidence.