As Jharkhand students’ protests – over the alleged irregularities in the Jharkhand Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2025 – continue even after two rounds of talks with the state government, the matter has now reached the Supreme Court. A PIL has been filed in the top court demanding a CBI investigation. The plea also demands the formation of an independent committee headed by a retired judge, the cancellation of the exam, and the conduct of a fresh one.
Social activist Harisharan Devgan has filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court through top court advocate Satyam Singh Rajpoot over alleged irregularities in the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) combined civil services preliminary examination 2025.
What The Petition Demands
The petition seeks either a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe or the constitution of an independent committee headed by a retired judge to conduct an impartial investigation into the fairness and conduct of the examination process.
The PIL has sought directions from the Supreme Court to cancel the JPSC Combined Civil Services Preliminary Examination and conduct a fresh preliminary examination. It has further sought that the new examination be conducted under security measures approved by the court.
The petition also seeks an independent, impartial, comprehensive, and time-bound investigation by the CBI into the alleged irregularities in the examination.
It has also sought the constitution of an independent committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge or a retired Chief Justice or Judge of a High Court from outside Jharkhand.
The petition seeks the inclusion of experts in forensic science, information technology, examination security, OMR evaluation, cybersecurity, and public administration in the committee.
The plea also sought an independent audit of the entire system involved in OMR scanning, coding, evaluation, and preparation of the results. It further sought directions for the preservation and protection of all physical and electronic records related to the examination.
These records may include — original OMR sheets, candidates’ carbon copies, question papers, answer keys, attendance sheets, biometric records, CCTV footage, dispatch registers, examination-centre reports, scanning records, evaluation data, and data related to the preparation of results.
Why Students Are Protesting in Jharkhand
The JPSC Combined Civil Services Preliminary Examination-2025 was conducted on April 19, 2026. The controversy surrounding the examination process emerged after the preliminary examination results were declared on July 2, 2026.
The petition claims that the carbon copy of the OMR answer sheet of a successful candidate went viral on social media. It was alleged that the candidate had answered only 48 out of 100 questions in Paper-I, yet was declared successful.
The Commission had asked successful candidates to submit the carbon copies of their OMR sheets for Paper-I and Paper-II between July 30 and August 5, 2026.
Students and aspirants who have been protesting are demanding the cancellation of the 14th JPSC Civil Services Examination and an independent probe into the alleged irregularities either by the CBI or by a panel of retired high court judges from outside the state.
On Saturday, the protest over alleged irregularities in the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) recruitment examinations entered its 15th day, with six protesters continuing their hunger strike.
With inputs from PTI