The Jharkhand High Court has said innocent candidates must not be harassed during the SIT probe into the JSSC CGL recruitment.

Petitioners had told the court that the SIT was questioning several innocent students repeatedly.

Justice Deepak Roshan said a summons does not by itself mean guilt.

Candidates were also directed to cooperate with the investigation.

Retired judge Gautam Kumar Chaudhary will monitor the probe, and the next hearing is on October 7.

The court directed that no successful candidate should face mental or administrative distress during the inquiry.

Candidates were also told to cooperate with the investigation while being protected from exploitation.

Retired High Court judge Gautam Kumar Chaudhary has been appointed to monitor the SIT investigation and to hear complaints from candidates.

A retired IPS officer, named in reports as R.K. Malik, has been designated nodal officer to coordinate between the SIT and Justice Chaudhary.

The monitoring arrangement operates independently of the court’s own proceedings and is meant to keep the investigation transparent.

The concern covers candidates whose appointments were cancelled and then restored after the High Court’s interim orders.

The interim stay on the cancellation of JPSC, JSSC CGL, CDPO and Food Safety Officer appointments continues.

The state had earlier ordered a CID probe into recruitment examinations dating back to 2014, and the SIT has been questioning suspects.

The next hearing is scheduled for October 7, 2026, at 11:30 am.

Under criminal procedure, a summons is a formal request to appear and give information, and it is not an accusation or a finding of wrongdoing.

Justice Deepak Roshan made the remarks at the September 18 hearing in the case titled Subhash Murmu and others versus the State of Jharkhand.

The court said investigating agencies may need to summon many people in order to reach a logical conclusion, and receiving a summons should not lead to that person being treated as guilty.

Jharkhand Police flag (representative image), Wikimedia Commons, CC0

The Jharkhand High Court has observed that all the appointments under the cancelled recruitments cannot be treated as wrong together.

The court made the distinction between procedural lapses in a process and the individual culpability of appointed candidates.

It also said that the state cannot remove appointees through a notification alone without following natural justice.

The interim stay on the cancellation of JPSC, JSSC CGL, CDPO and Food Safety Officer appointments continues.

The case will be heard next on October 7.

According to a Live Dainik report of the affidavit, the state said a JPSC exam and the resulting appointments take two to three years to complete.

The same report said the state argued that cancelling about 2,700 appointments in one stroke would lead to job losses for many state officers.

Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora and the Advocate General represented the state, and JPSC was represented by its own counsel.

Senior advocate Rajiv Ranjan, a former Advocate General of Jharkhand, appeared for the candidates along with several other advocates.

The petitioners were given time to file counter-affidavits, which the court has allowed within 10 days of receiving copies of the notices.

The next hearing has been fixed for October 7, 2026, at 11:30 am.

The court also appointed retired High Court judge Gautam Kumar Chaudhary to monitor the SIT investigation and hear candidates’ grievances.

The state government had announced the cancellations in August after weeks of student protests over alleged irregularities in the recruitment examinations.

A separate petition by activist Harisharan Devgan in the Supreme Court seeks a CBI probe, and the Supreme Court has issued notices to the Centre and the state on it.

Natural justice is the legal principle that a person must be heard, and given a chance to respond, before an adverse decision is taken against them.

High Court of Jharkhand, Ranchi, Wikimedia Commons, CC0

The NEET UG Counselling 2026 Round 2 reporting and joining process concludes today, September 18, according to the MCC’s official schedule.

The Round 2 final seat allotment result was released on September 12, opening the reporting window that closes today.

Document verification for Round 2 allottees will follow on September 19.

Candidates who do not complete their reporting formalities by today risk losing their allotted seat.

The MCC has announced that NEET UG Round 3 registration will run from September 22 to 27 on mcc.nic.in.

Candidates who fail to complete reporting and joining by the Round 2 deadline risk forfeiting their allotted seat under MCC rules.

NEET UG counselling is conducted centrally by the Medical Counselling Committee for all India quota seats and deemed/central universities.

State-level counselling authorities separately manage state quota seats, running on their own parallel schedules alongside the central MCC process.

The seat allotment process factors in candidates’ NEET UG rank, category, and choices filled during registration to determine college and course allocation.

Candidates are advised to carry all required original documents, including admit cards, mark sheets, category certificates and identity proof, during physical reporting.

Round 3 will offer another opportunity for candidates who did not secure a seat in Rounds 1 or 2, or who wish to upgrade their allotted seat.

Medical aspirants have been advised to regularly check the MCC website for updates, as counselling schedules can shift based on seat availability and court directions.

The Medical Counselling Committee released the NEET UG Counselling 2026 Round 2 final seat allotment result on September 12.

Candidates who received seats in Round 2 must complete their reporting and joining formalities at their allotted colleges by today, September 18.

Document verification for Round 2 allottees is scheduled to be conducted on September 19, the day after the reporting deadline.

Medical college students (representative image), Wikimedia Commons, GODL-India