New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India on Monday issued notices to the Union Government, the Jharkhand state administration, the Jharkhand Public Service Commission, and the Central Bureau of Investigation regarding a petition demanding an independent probe into alleged malpractices during the state’s preliminary civil services examination. A three-judge Bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice V. Mohana sought formal responses on the Public Interest Litigation filed under Article 32 of the Constitution.
The petition, moved by activist Harisharan Devgan through advocate Satyam Singh Rajput, challenges the conduct and credibility of the Jharkhand Combined Civil Services Preliminary Competitive Examination held on April 19. Senior advocate Manan Kumar Mishra, appearing for the petitioner, urged the top court to transfer the ongoing investigation from the state Criminal Investigation Department to an independent central agency, arguing that an impartial inquiry is necessary to scrutinize the actions of public officials and testing agencies.
According to the plea, the controversy cannot be viewed merely as isolated malpractice but requires a forensic review of the entire logistical and administrative chain. This includes the printing, storage, and distribution of question papers, as well as the custody, scanning, evaluation, and server audit logs of OMR answer sheets. The petitioner also sought immediate court directions to preserve all physical and digital records—including original OMR sheets, candidate carbon copies, and testing centre CCTV footage—to prevent any potential tampering while determining whether the examination outcome can lawfully stand as the basis for public recruitment.
