Ranchi protesters double down on CBI probe, Jharkhand govt wary

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was entrusted with inquiries into irregularities in recruitment by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) in 2002 and 2005. The inquiries were never completed and apparently remain ongoing. They were never formally closed. This is one of several reasons why the Hemant Soren government is said to be wary of a CBI inquiry.

The demand for a CBI inquiry into irregularities detected in recruitment tests conducted by a Lucknow-based company for the JPSC and the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) has become a sticking point between a section of protesters in Ranchi and the state government. Some protesters, backed by the BJP, are insisting on a CBI inquiry, while the state government has remained unmoved by the demand.

Recruitments made by the JPSC have been mired in controversy since its inception in 2000. Allegations of favouritism and nepotism surfaced even when Babulal Marandi of the BJP was the chief minister. The scandals raised enough of a stink to force Marandi, the state's first chief minister and now the leader of opposition in the Jharkhand Assembly, to hand over the investigation to the CBI. The inquiries, it is alleged, remained inconclusive, even as every test conducted by the JPSC in subsequent years was followed by similar controversies.

Along with the CBI's past record, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led government has argued that the state's own CID cracked down on the JPSC on 21 July, four days before protests, an indefinite fast by some protesters and a sit-in began at Ranchi's Jaipal Singh Stadium. The JPSC chairman resigned on the same day and was subsequently arrested by the state police.

The investigation has led to the arrest of 20 people so far, including the director of the Lucknow-based company TDPL, which had conducted as many as 12 examinations for the JPSC since 2025. Since Jharkhand Police has already cracked the case, there was no justification for an inquiry by a central agency, JMM has argued.

The government has also pointed out that the Jharkhand High Court found no reason to hand over the investigation into the Combined Graduate Level (CGL) examination conducted by the SSC. The Supreme Court, it claimed, allowed the appointments to be made, and the appointees have already joined at their places of posting.

The BJP's demand for a CBI inquiry, JMM holds, is politically motivated and designed to harass the state government. Chief minister Hemant Soren, JMM leaders point out, was himself hounded by central agencies on what they described as false charges and forced to resign until the high court dismissed the ED's case against him.

While fears of a witch hunt and a partisan investigation are real, the fact remains that investigations by both the CID and the CBI may well reveal whether family members and relatives of people in government and the ruling party benefited disproportionately, raising suspicions of favouritism.

"While relatives of bureaucrats, police officers and politicians of all parties seem to have been appointed, the fear is that the CBI and the media would go after the government and spare the BJP," said a senior journalist in Ranchi on condition of anonymity.

The CID inquiry has already raised questions about TDPL. The key issue is the award of the contract to TDPL, to the exclusion of more experienced companies such as Sify Technologies, TCS iON and EdCIL. TDPL was actually blacklisted in Uttar Pradesh, with its directors allegedly arrested by the UP STF.

Allahabad High Court had also ordered a CBI inquiry into recruitments made by TDPL for the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha and Vidhan Parishad. The Supreme Court, however, stayed the order in 2023 and dismissed the case in 2025, ruling that a CBI inquiry into recruitment examinations must be ordered only in the rarest of rare cases.

While the arrest of JPSC chairman L. Khiangte — said to be the kingpin of the employment racket — and the incriminating statements given by arrested TDPL marketing manager Abhay Tiwari have blown the lid off the racket, the Jharkhand government has been tight-lipped about the findings.

Unless the state government comes out with full disclosure about the extent of the racket, its beneficiaries and the evidence collected so far, it risks losing credibility. The Jharkhand CID may claim to have arrested the main conspirators, but the suspicion that the government is protecting influential people will not be allayed until all the facts are disclosed to the public.

Restoring trust in the recruitment tests is a tall order, and the Jharkhand government needs to set an example in probity and transparency if it is interested in winning the narrative.