Ranchi, July 10: The Jharkhand High Court has refused to stay the results of the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) Combined Civil Services Preliminary Examination (PT) 2025, dismissing a petition that challenged the examination outcome over alleged irregularities in the evaluation of OMR answer sheets.
A division bench of the High Court declined to grant interim relief to the petitioner, allowing the recruitment process to continue.
During the hearing, JPSC argued that the matter related to OMR sheet evaluation had already been settled through earlier judgments of the Jharkhand High Court and the Supreme Court.
The commission submitted that candidates are required to follow the prescribed instructions while marking OMR answer sheets.
It stated that answer sheets may be declared invalid if candidates fail to mark responses correctly or mark more than one answer for a single question. According to JPSC, such actions are in line with examination rules and judicial precedents.
JPSC further informed the court that the petitioner’s OMR answer sheet had been rejected due to an error committed by the candidate during the examination and not because of any fault on the part of the commission.
The court accepted the commission’s submissions and dismissed the petition.
The petitioner had challenged the preliminary examination results after not being declared successful, alleging that the rejection of the OMR sheet was unjustified. Meanwhile, protests against the examination results continued in Ranchi.
Candidates and members of student organisations staged a march, alleging irregularities in the 14th JPSC Combined Civil Services Preliminary Examination.
The protesters marched from the State Library to Albert Ekka Chowk, where they burned an effigy of the JPSC Chairman.
They demanded a transparent recruitment process, an impartial investigation into the alleged irregularities, and fair treatment for all candidates.
Protest leaders claimed that several questions remain unanswered regarding the examination process and urged the state government and the commission to order a high-level inquiry.
They warned that if their demands are ignored, the agitation could be expanded across Jharkhand.
While the High Court’s decision has cleared the way for the recruitment process to move forward, the controversy surrounding the preliminary examination continues to draw criticism from a section of aspirants seeking greater transparency and accountability.
