A petition has been filed with the Supreme Court of India, urging an independent investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the alleged misconduct surrounding the Jharkhand Public Service Commission’s (JPSC) Combined Civil Services Preliminary Examination conducted in 2025. The plea, submitted by Advocate Satyam Singh Rajput representing social activist Harisharan Devgan, advocates for the transfer of the current probe from the Jharkhand Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to the CBI. The petition posits that an independent body is crucial to maintaining public trust in the investigative process.
Concerns arose following the JPSC preliminary examination held on April 19, 2026, when a carbon copy of a candidate’s OMR answer sheet surfaced online. The sheet indicated the candidate had qualified despite allegedly answering only 48 out of 100 questions, prompting suspicions about the examination’s evaluation process.
The situation was further complicated by the JPSC’s decision to employ TSDPL as the examination agency, a company previously blacklisted by the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission for other alleged irregularities. This decision has drawn significant criticism and scrutiny. The controversy ignited widespread student protests in Ranchi, initially at Bapu Vatika and later at Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium, with one student leader commencing a hunger strike on August 3 to demand an independent investigation and reforms in the recruitment system.
In response to mounting pressure, three JPSC members resigned, and the State government decided to annul the 14th JPSC Combined Civil Services preliminary examination along with backlog exams from 2023 and 2025. The government also suggested a separate investigation by the Enforcement Directorate into potential financial misconduct related to the exam. However, the protesting students have persisted, arguing that merely canceling the exams without an independent investigation is inadequate.
The significance of the plea is heightened by a recent Jharkhand High Court ruling that stayed the State government’s decision to cancel the 2023 and 2025 exams. The petition submitted to the Supreme Court contends that canceling the exams alone does not address the core issues or hold accountable those responsible for the alleged irregularities. The petition stresses the necessity of a comprehensive, independent probe to determine the nature of the misconduct, identify responsible parties, and rectify systemic vulnerabilities before any future examinations are held.
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A particular focus of the plea is on safeguarding evidence before it can be compromised. It highlights that during the CID’s ongoing investigation, successful candidates were asked to provide carbon copies of their OMR sheets, which could be cross-referenced with original sheets, scanned images, and evaluation data held by the JPSC and its service providers.
The petition seeks court directives to secure all associated physical and digital materials, such as original OMR sheets, CCTV footage, server audit logs, and biometric attendance records. It warns that electronic records, in particular, may be at risk of being overwritten or deleted with time. The plea has requested urgent consideration by August 22, emphasizing the potential loss or tampering of critical electronic evidence if not promptly addressed.
