NEW DELHI, Aug 24: The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from the Centre, Jharkhand government, Jharkhand Public Service Commission and the Central Bureau of Investigation on a petition seeking an independent and time-bound probe into alleged irregularities in the Jharkhand Combined Civil Services Preliminary Examination.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana issued notices to the Union government, the state administration, JPSC, CBI and other respondents.
Senior advocate Manan Kumar Mishra, appearing for the petitioner, told the bench that the plea sought a CBI investigation or, alternatively, an inquiry by a former Supreme Court judge.
The petition was filed by activist Harisharan Devgan through advocate Satyam Singh Rajput. It raises concerns over the fairness, transparency and credibility of the 2025 Combined Civil Services Preliminary Examination conducted by JPSC under Advertisement No. 01/2026 on April 19, 2026.
Plea seeks transfer of investigation
The petitioner has urged the Supreme Court to transfer the existing investigation from the state CID to the CBI, arguing that an independent agency would be better placed to examine allegations involving government officials and examination authorities.
The plea maintains that the matter should not be treated simply as a dispute involving individual candidates or isolated allegations of cheating.
It seeks a comprehensive examination of the entire examination process, including question-paper preparation and printing, coding, storage, transportation and distribution, along with the conduct of the test and handling of OMR answer sheets.
The petitioner has also sought scrutiny of the scanning and evaluation process, electronic examination records, result preparation and publication.
Protection of examination evidence sought
The plea has requested immediate steps to secure physical and digital evidence that could be relevant to the investigation.
This includes original OMR sheets and candidates’ carbon copies, CCTV recordings and server audit logs. The petitioner has argued that preserving such material is essential to prevent any possible alteration or destruction of evidence.
The petition also makes clear that it is not seeking cancellation of the examination solely on the basis of media reports or public protests.
Instead, it asks for an impartial investigation to establish the nature, scale, mechanism and potential impact of the alleged malpractice before any decision is taken regarding the validity of the examination.
Focus on credibility of recruitment process
The petitioner has argued that the central issue is whether the preliminary examination can be considered sufficiently reliable to serve as the basis for public appointments.
According to the plea, the allegations raise broader constitutional concerns about the minimum standards of fairness, transparency, reliability and institutional integrity expected from a public recruitment examination conducted by a constitutional authority.
The Supreme Court’s notice marks the beginning of its consideration of the allegations, while responses from the concerned authorities are awaited.
