Ranchi: Jharkhand high court on Wednesday extended its interim protection against the termination of govt employees affected by the cancellation of examinations conducted by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) and Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC).Justice Deepak Roshan heard a batch of petitions filed by employees challenging the order of the personnel and administrative reforms department. The hearing will resume on Thursday.Appearing for the petitioners, senior advocates Rajiv Ranjan and Indrajit Sinha, assisted by Amritansh Vats, argued that the govt had acted arbitrarily by cancelling all examinations conducted by the two commissions. They said a special investigation team (SIT) had found no evidence of any nexus suggesting malpractice in the conduct of examinations.State govt had issued a notification on Aug 18 cancelling 23 examinations conducted by the JPSC and JSSC since 2014. The decision rendered several successful candidates, who had already joined govt service, vulnerable to termination.The petitions were filed by Akash Gaurav, Neeraj Khess and several other candidates currently serving in govt posts. Their lawyers submitted that the SIT investigation had continued for nearly two years without a chargesheet being filed. In the absence of a chargesheet, they argued, there was no basis to determine the guilt or innocence of individual candidates.Cancelling the examinations and terminating all successful candidates without establishing individual culpability was “unfair and unjust”, the petitioners’ counsel told the court.Defending the govt’s decision, advocate general Rohitashya Roy and senior Supreme Court advocate Meenakshi Arora said the investigation into the alleged examination scam was still under way. They submitted that the probe had uncovered foul play at different levels, warranting cancellation of the examinations.The interim protection will remain in force until the next hearing.
