The Jharkhand High Court on Friday (November 6, 2026) quashed State government decision to cancel the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission Combined Graduate Level (JSSC-CGL) exam.

A single-Judge bench of Justice Deepak Roshan, set aside the State government’s decision to cancel the appointments made under the JSSC-CGL examination. The court has also ordered the reinstatement of the candidates selected under advertisement number 10/2023, directing that their service be treated as continuous, without any interruption.

Based on the Jharkhand State Crime Investigation Department (CID) investigation report and widespread protests by candidates, the State government had decided to cancel the examination process and the appointments made based on it on August 17, 2026.

The decision was made public through a notification issued late in the evening on August 18, 2026. On the same day, the Hemant Soren cabinet decided to cancel a total of 22 examinations, including the 11th to 13th Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC), Child Development Programme Officer (CDPO), and JSSC-CGL exams.

Additionally, six other examinations were postponed. The investigation into these examinations was handed over to the CID. Furthermore, it was decided that 17 other examinations would also be investigated by the CID.

The court directed that that candidates will not be deprived of any other service benefits due to the notification cancelling the recruitment.

“It is not impossible to identify the suspect and guilty candidates in this matter. Therefore, instead of cancelling the entire examination and the appointments made on its basis, those involved in the irregularities can be identified through an investigation,”the court observed.

The court also pointed out that the State government failed to present any concrete, fact-based inquiry or evidence to prove that the entire selection process was marred by systematic irregularities.

“The appointments of all selected candidates cannot be terminated merely on the grounds that allegations exist or investigations are pending against a few individual candidates,” the court said.

Advocate Amritansh Vats, representing the petitioners that court also refereed to earlier orders passed by the High Court and the Supreme Court, the court stated that the State government cannot take action contrary to those judicial directives

In the previous orders, the appointments had been made subject to the final outcome of the pending criminal proceedings. Therefore, the decision to cancel the entire recruitment process before the investigation was concluded as not justified.

“The investigation into the matter will continue, and any candidates found guilty during the course of this probe may be excluded from the selection process and subsequent appointments,” Mr. Vats said.

According to the advocate, the government had decided to cancel the examination before the investigation report was even finalized.

Separate petitions were filed in the High Court against the decision of the State government to cancel JSSC CGL advertisement No. 10/2023. Senior advocate and former advocate general Rajiv Ranjan and advocate Amritansh Vats appeared on behalf of the petitioners. At the same time, on behalf of the State government, senior advocate Meenakshi Arora had presented the arguments through video conferencing.

The Jharkhand High Court on August 21, 2026 stayed the notifications canceling the appointments of CDPOs and those recruited through the JSSC-CGL) Exam. More than 2,000 candidates were affected.