Jharkhand High Court, Ranchi (file image), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
JSSC CGL High Court hearing: Key facts
The Jharkhand High Court on October 8 completed its hearing on the state’s decision to cancel the JSSC CGL exam and reserved its verdict, after the state said irregularities were so wide that genuine candidates could not be separated from others.
Bench: Justice Deepak Roshan, Jharkhand High Court.
Hearing dates: October 7 and October 8, 2026.
State’s lawyer: senior advocate Meenakshi Arora.
Arrests so far: more than 28, according to the state’s submission on October 7.
Status: verdict reserved.
On October 7, the state said that more than 28 people had been arrested, according to ETV Bharat.
The state also submitted a sealed report to the court on October 7.
It argued that, because the probe is ongoing, it is not possible to say which candidates were involved and which are innocent.
The state has described the examination system as suffering from systemic failure, and the court said it cannot ignore that aspect, according to ETV Bharat.
The petitioners argued that there is no proof that the paper leaked from an examination centre.
They said probable questions were given to 28 candidates in Nepal, of whom 10 were selected, and that the High Court’s order withholding those 10 results was upheld by the Supreme Court.
They said the SIT has been investigating for over two years without filing a chargesheet, according to ETV Bharat.
They argued that cancelling the entire exam without separating guilty and innocent candidates is improper.
On October 7, the court expressed concern for about 2,700 successful candidates and said that candidates selected on merit must receive justice.
The court also asked why the investigation had not been completed in three years, according to The Daily Jagran.
Aaj Tak reported that the court observed that the investigation report so far does not contain solid evidence that the paper leaked before the exam.
It also reported that the court noted that if large-scale cheating is proven, the whole exam can be cancelled under Supreme Court guidelines.
An intervenor’s lawyer, Kumar Harsh, told the court that the question paper had spread widely on WhatsApp and Telegram before the exam, according to Aaj Tak.
Jharkhand High Court, Ranchi (file image), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0