Lagatar24 Desk
Ranchi: The Jharkhand High Court heard multiple petitions challenging the state government’s order cancelling JSSC-CGL and other appointments made under advertisement number 10/2023, with the government filing its affidavit and the court continuing its stay on the cancellation order.
Court Says Government Cannot Remove Permanent Appointees Through a Single Notification
Justice Deepak Roshan’s bench heard the batch of petitions, including those filed by Akash Gaurav and others, and Niroj Khes and others, against the cancellation order. The petitioners sought time from the court to file their counter-response to the government’s affidavit. The court observed that the government could not remove employees holding permanent appointments merely on the basis of a single notification. It appointed R.K. Malik as nodal officer for the matter, while Justice Gautam Kumar Chaudhary was tasked with monitoring the resolution of any difficulties faced by candidates. The court further said that candidates facing undue harassment from the SIT could approach Justice Chaudhary with their complaints.
Court Takes Note of Social Media Comments on Proceedings
The petitioners informed the court that certain comments and clips relating to the case were circulating on social media, which they said violated a Supreme Court order, and requested the court to take cognisance of the matter. The court responded that it was taking note of the issue. The next hearing in the case has been fixed for October 7 at 11:30 am. Senior advocate Rajiv Ranjan, along with advocates Shrey Mishra, Indrajeet Sinha and Amritansh Vats, appeared for the petitioners, while Advocate General Rohitashya Rai and senior advocate Meenakshi Arora represented the state government.
Background: Mass Cancellation Followed CID Findings
Based on findings from the CID investigation, the state government had announced late on the night of August 18 the cancellation of all examinations found to be compromised, including the TDPL, and had also ordered a probe into possible irregularities in all recruitment examinations conducted since 2014. Following these announcements, the Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department issued notifications covering the cancellation of 22 examinations, suspension of 6 others, and the inclusion of 17 examinations under investigation.
