RanchI: Two rounds of talks with the Hemant Soren-helmed state government have not yielded the desired result as the students’ protest over alleged irregularities in the Jharkhand Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2025 completed two weeks.
Now, the issue has reached the Supreme Court.
Social activist Harisharan Devgan has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the country’s apex court through advocate Satyam Singh Rajpoot over alleged irregularities in the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) combined civil services preliminary exam 2025.
The petition has sought a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe or the constitution of an independent committee – headed by a retired Supreme Court judge or a retired Chief Justice or a High Court judge outside Jharkhand — to conduct an impartial investigation into the fairness and conduct of the examination process.
The petition also demanded cancellation of the exam, and the conduct of a fresh one.
The inclusion of experts in forensic science, information technology, examination security, OMR evaluation, cybersecurity, and public administration in the committee has been asked for.
The controversy over JPSC Combined Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2025 – which was conducted on April 19 this year – erupted after the results were declared on July 2.
According to the PIL, the carbon copy of the OMR answer sheet of a successful candidate went viral on social media. He apparently answered only 48 out of 100 questions in Paper I, yet was declared successful.
The Commission had asked successful candidates to submit carbon copies of their OMR sheets for Paper I and Paper II between July 30 and August 5.
Students and aspirants started the protest on July 25 at Ranchi’s Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium, demanding cancellation of the JPSC Civil Services Examination and an independent probe into the alleged irregularities either by the CBI or by a panel of retired high court judges from outside the state.
Six of the protesters are continuing with their hunger strike.