New Delhi, August 24, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
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 Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana issued the notice on a petition filed by social activist Harisharan Devgan.
The plea seeks an independent, impartial, comprehensive and time-bound CBI investigation into alleged irregularities and malpractice in the preliminary examination conducted by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) on April 19.
Seeking transfer of the probe from the state CID, the petitioner has contended that the allegations warrant examination of the functioning of the state recruitment machinery and the possible involvement of officials, examination-centre personnel, technical agencies, scanning and evaluation agencies and other service providers.
According to the petition, the state CID has already registered a case and, during its investigation, asked successful candidates to provide their Paper-I and Paper-II OMR carbon copies. The plea states that these copies can be independently compared with original OMR sheets, scanned images, coding and decoding records, evaluation data and result-generation records held by the JPSC and its service providers.
The petitioner has clarified that the demand for a CBI probe is not based on any personal allegation against CID officers, but on the nature and scale of the allegations and the need for an investigating agency insulated from the state machinery connected with the examination.
The plea also argues that the subsequent cancellation of the preliminary examination does not remove the need for an independent investigation. It says the probe remains necessary to establish whether and to what extent the examination process was compromised, how the alleged irregularities occurred and who, if anyone, was responsible.
The petitioner has additionally sought immediate preservation and secure custody of all original physical and electronic examination records, including 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 stresses the need for a complete and auditable chain of custody, pointing out that electronic and digital records may have limited or variable retention periods and could potentially be altered, overwritten or deleted over time.
It has sought urgent directions for preservation of the records, arguing that any delay could affect their availability, integrity and evidentiary value.
The respondents include the Union of India, JPSC, 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 Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra and advocate Satyam Singh Rajput appeared for the petitioner.
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