SC seeks response on plea for CBI probe into Jharkhand civil services exam irregularities

The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice on a plea seeking transfer of the investigation into alleged irregularities in the Jharkhand Combined Civil Services Preliminary Examination-2025 from the state police's CID to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana issued notice on the plea filed by social activist Harisharan Devgan.

The petition has sought an independent, impartial, comprehensive and time-bound CBI investigation into the alleged irregularities and malpractice in the preliminary examination conducted by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) on April 19. It seeks transfer of the probe from the state Criminal Investigation Department to the CBI, contending that the allegations require examination of the functioning of the state recruitment machinery, including the possible role of officials, examination-centre personnel, technical agencies, scanning and evaluation agencies and other service providers.

According to the petition, the state CID had already registered a case and, during the investigation, called upon successful candidates to furnish their Paper-I and Paper-II OMR carbon copies. The plea contends that the candidate-held OMR carbon copies can be independently correlated with the original OMR sheets, scanned images, coding and decoding records, evaluation data and result-generation records maintained by the JPSC and its service providers.

The petitioner has submitted that the request for a CBI probe is not based on any personal allegation against the state CID officers, but on the nature and magnitude of the allegations and the need for an agency insulated from the state machinery connected with the subject matter of the investigation.

The plea further argues that the subsequent cancellation of the preliminary examination does not eliminate the need for an independent investigation.

"Cancellation does not obviate the necessity for such independent investigation," the petitioner has submitted, contending that it remains necessary to determine whether and to what extent the examination process was compromised, the mechanism of the alleged irregularities and the persons or agencies responsible, if any.

It has also sought immediate preservation and secure custody of all original physical and electronic examination records, including original OMR sheets, candidate-held carbon copies, question papers, answer keys, attendance and biometric records, CCTV footage, examination-centre records, scanning and coding records, evaluation data, server records, audit trails and result-generation data.

The plea has stressed the need for a complete, contemporaneous and auditable chain of custody of the records, adding that electronic and digital material may be subject to limited or variable retention periods and could be altered, overwritten, deleted, or otherwise compromised with the passage of time. It has sought directions to ensure that the investigation is independent, comprehensive and credible and capable of commanding public confidence.

The plea also seeks urgent directions for preservation of the examination records, contending that any delay may adversely affect their availability, integrity and evidentiary value. The respondents in the matter include the Union of India, the JPSC, the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission, the state of Jharkhand, the CBI and the Director General of Police, Criminal Investigation Department, Jharkhand.

Senior advocate and Bar Council of India (BCI) Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra and advocate Satyam Singh Rajput appeared for the petitioner.

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