Authority: High Court of Jharkhand at Ranchi

Order Date: 29 August 2026

Case Overview

  • Petitioners: a group of 20‑plus candidates (including Arpana Kumari, Komal Surin, Jitendra Prasad, etc.) seeking relief against the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC) regarding recruitment of secondary school teachers (classes 9‑12) under Advertisement No. 2 of 2025.
  • Respondents: State of Jharkhand (Chief Secretary, Education Department) and JSSC (Secretary, Chairman, Examination Controller).
  • Core dispute: alleged malpractices in the online examination Paper‑II, unauthorized multiple logins, compromised terminals, and the decision to conduct a re‑examination for 2,819 candidates without providing response keys or conducting a proper investigation.
  • Key factual timeline:
  • 20 May 2025 – Recruitment and Service Conditions Rules for Secondary School Teachers notified.
  • June 2025 – Advertisement issued.
  • 6 Jan 2026 – Notice of Paper‑I exam (15 Jan 2026) and Paper‑II dates (15 Jan‑22 Feb 2026).
  • 30 Mar 2026 – Notice to candidates about suspicious activity; requirement to submit notarised affidavit by 10 Apr 2026 (petitioners complied).
  • 15 Apr 2026 – Final answer key posted, petitioners denied access.
  • 23 Apr 2026 – Notice directing 2,819 roll numbers to appear for re‑examination on 8 May 2026; later count shown as 2,837, raising discrepancy.
  • Division Bench (7 May 2026) refused interim stay but allowed petitioners to appear in re‑examination under protest.
  • Multiple annexures (6‑8, E‑G, H) submitted showing screenshots of WhatsApp/SMS alerts, charts of candidate numbers, and lack of IP‑address details.
  • Legal provisions invoked: Jharkhand Competitive Examination (Measures for Control and Prevention of Unfair Means in Recruitment) Act, 2023 – Sections 5(c) (prohibition of question‑paper leakage) and 11 (liability of managing agency).

Final Outcome

  • The Chief Secretary is directed to lodge an FIR with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) against unknown culprits immediately.
  • CID is tasked to conduct a fair and speedy investigation and bring offenders to trial as per the BNSS provisions.
  • All appointments made by JSSC shall be conditional on the outcome of the criminal investigation.
  • JSSC must, within two weeks of this order, publish the marks of all 2,819 candidates listed for re‑examination, without prejudice to the pending case.
  • JSSC must preserve all examination data (first round and re‑examination) and ensure full cooperation of the contracted examination agency and examination centres.
  • The court dismisses all pending writ petitions and interim applications (I.A. 8860/2026), closing the matters.

Topics: Examination Integrity, Criminal Investigation, Public Sector Recruitment