Rajasthan High Court cancels 2021 Sub-Inspector exam over paper leak

The Rajasthan High Court on Thursday cancelled the police Sub-Inspector recruitment examination of 2021 after finding large-scale irregularities, including paper leak and involvement of members of the State Public Service Commission (RPSC) in the scam. The court declared null and void the exam as well as the selection of Sub-Inspectors.

Justice Sameer Jain at the High Court’s Jaipur Bench, who had earlier reserved the judgment after a prolonged hearing on a writ petition filed by 25 individuals, pronounced the verdict in the open court, while observing that the examination process was vitiated by “illegality and fraud on the system”.

The court criticised the State government for its inaction, pointing out that despite glaring evidence, no decisive steps were taken. The BJP government had opposed the writ petition, saying it would be premature to cancel the exam before the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Rajasthan police completes its probe.

A Cabinet Sub-Committee, which examined various aspects of the recruitment exam, had also recommended against cancellation. It said only 6.3% of examinees were found to be tainted in the SOG probe, while 93.7% appeared to be clean. The recommendation was approved by Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma.

Multiple first information reports were registered in connection with the recruitment exam held in September 2021 to fill 859 vacancies of Sub-Inspectors and platoon commanders. A total of 122 people, including 55 trainees and two members of RPSC, were arrested in the case. Several of those arrested allegedly acted as dummy candidates and engaged in malpractices.

The paper leak scam was one of the major political issues during the 2023 State Assembly election, and both the previous Congress government and the current BJP regime faced criticism over handling of the matter. Some of the examinees, who moved the High Court, scored 300 to 310 marks out of 400, while the last selected candidate in the merit list had scored 326 marks.

The court ordered that the vacancies for 859 posts which were filled through the tainted exam of 2021 be added to the fresh 1,015 vacancies advertised for recruitment by the RPSC recently. All the successful candidates who were selected through the 2021 exam will be eligible to apply afresh for the 2025 recruitment exam.

The judge said it was not possible to distinguish between genuine and tainted candidates in the recruitment, while acknowledging that several aspirants had appeared for the exam honestly. “If even a single candidate were to become a Station House Officer through a leaked paper, it would not be right,” the court observed.

The Single Judge Bench also took suo motu cognisance of the alleged role of then RPSC members, who were accused of being complicit in the paper leak scam, and referred the matter to a Division Bench of the High Court. The court laid emphasis on the need for accountability within the commission to restore public faith in the recruitment processes.

There were celebrations after the judgment at the site of a 127-day long dharna being staged by the youth at Shaheed Smarak in Jaipur under the banner of Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) with the demand for the exam’s cancellation. The sit-in was called off on Thursday evening after RLP president and Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal, who has been regularly joining the protest, arrived at the site.