Rajasthan HC stays order cancelling SI Recruitment Exam-2021; ban on postings to continue

Jaipur, Sep 8 (IANS) The division bench of Rajasthan High Court has stayed the single bench order cancelling the Sub-Inspector (SI) Recruitment Exam-2021. However, the selected candidates will not be given field postings until further orders. The court has also issued notice in this regard to the state government.

The appeal filed by Amar Singh and other selected sub-inspectors was heard on Monday by the division bench of Justice S.P. Sharma.

Senior advocate R.N. Mathur represented the petitioners. The appellants argued that the single bench’s cancellation order was incorrect, as the government itself was not in favor of scrapping the recruitment.

They highlighted that the Special Operations Group (SOG) had already arrested those involved in the paper leak, making it possible to distinguish between 'tainted' and 'genuine' candidates.

Hence, cancelling the entire recruitment was termed “illegal and unfair.”

Legal experts, including Pratik Kasliwal and petitioner’s lawyer Harendra Neel, pointed out that courts usually grant a stay in such cases as the majority of candidates were genuine aspirants.

They argued that cancellation would amount to “immediate dismissal” for those already under training or on job rolls. Had the stay not been granted, the government would have been forced to dismiss all trainees and restart recruitment.

Experts noted that in such circumstances, a stay by the division bench was highly probable.

RPSC Chairman U.R. Sahu stated that the matter was now in the government’s domain and the Commission had no further role.

On August 28, the single bench of Justice Sameer Jain had cancelled the SI Recruitment-2021, held for 859 posts, after several trainee sub-inspectors were caught in the paper leak.

In a 202-page order, the court ruled that the recruitment process was compromised due to widespread leaks involving six RPSC members, and even the Bluetooth gang had accessed the exam.

The court ordered that these posts be added to the 2025 recruitment and that all 2021 candidates be allowed to reappear.

The court had held that former RPSC chairman Sanjay Shrotriya and five members had an “active role” in the leak. Confidentiality was compromised even before the paper reached the printing press.

Highlighting the involvement of members, it said evidence showed that members Manju Sharma, Sangeeta Arya, and Jaswant Rathi were involved in influencing interviews for associates’ children, indicating systematic corruption.

The order highlighted how candidates’ appearances were disclosed in advance to panel members. The court noted that a handwritten copy of the paper was leaked prior to printing, proving deep internal betrayal within the Commission.

--IANS

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