Jharkhand High Court seeks reports of reservation in the preliminary exams of 7th JPSC

RANCHI: The High Court of Jharkhand on Monday ordered the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) to furnish information whether reservation was granted to candidates appearing in the 7th JPSC preliminary examinations held last year. A division bench of Chief Justice Dr Ravi Ranjan and Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad also sought a report from JPSC on how many candidates of the reserved category have been selected in the general category.

The bench, hearing a petition filed by Kumar Sanyam also ordered the public service commission to give details of category wise seats by way of an affidavit before the court. The bench was informed that no details of reservation were published in the advertisement published for conducting the preliminary examination by the Commission.

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Advocate Amritansh Vats while arguing the case claimed that the government does not have any policy of reservation for candidates appearing in the preliminary examinations. He further said that there were 114 seats in the general category and as per the norms, the results should have been 15 times the allotted seats. As many as 1,710 candidates should have been selected but only 768 candidates have been declared successful. This proves that reservation has been granted to candidates in the preliminary exams, Vats claimed.

Opposition Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state has been demanding a CBI inquiry alleging irregularities in the state civil services examinations.

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Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren last month reacting to the controversy over the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) examination, had said that the BJP was creating a hue and cry as 3,000 of the 4,000 selected candidates were from reserved categories. Stormy scenes were witnessed during the winter session of the assembly from December 16 to 22, with the BJP alleging irregularities in the state civil services examinations.

Soren had alleged that those with a "Manuwadi mindset" were not able to accept the success of SC, ST and OBC candidates. He dismissed charges of corruption, stating that the examination was conducted by JPSC without any government intervention, and alleged that appointments were made to deputy superintendent of police posts sans any tests during the BJP rule, for which CBI inquiry is underway.