'Double Game & Duplicitous Character Fully Exposed': Jharkhand Students Accuse Govt After HC Stays Cancellation of JPSC Exams

Ranchi: Student protesters have sharply criticised the Jharkhand government for alleged double standards after the High Court on Thursday stayed the state’s order cancelling the 11th to 13th Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) examinations and related appointments.

The court order came while hearing petitions filed by newly appointed officers who had challenged the cancellation, offering them interim relief.

Student leader Ravindra Paswan told ANI he would not comment on the judicial order itself but questioned the government’s conduct during the hearing. He said the administration had earlier assured protesters that all their demands had been accepted, the examinations cancelled, and a proper investigation ordered. “We did not see this intent of the government today,” Paswan said.

He alleged that the state’s counsel made no submissions in court, claiming the government had sought only to end the agitation by cancelling the exams on one hand while allowing appointments to proceed on the other. “We had trusted the Jharkhand government. We thought that the CM wouldn’t do politics with students. But he is doing it today,” he added.

Paswan announced that students would intensify their protest by burning the Chief Minister’s effigies across all 24 districts of the state on Friday.

The official X handle of the JPSC-JSSC Reform Manch echoed the charge of duplicity. In one post it stated: “The Government’s Duplicity Is No Longer Acceptable. The government’s double game and duplicitous character have now been fully exposed before the students. After the imposition of a stay by the honourable judiciary on the government’s decision, the biggest question is whether the government is defending its own cancelled decision in the honourable court with full vigour and seriousness? If the government does not present its case with complete firmness in the court, on what basis should students trust that it is committed to saving its decision to cancel? It is precisely this attitude of the government that is once again forcing students into agitation.”

In a separate post, the group urged supporters to “make tonight’s effigy burning programme a success and show this duplicitous government what the consequences are for deceiving students.”