The Rajasthan government has submitted a report in the High Court recommending that the 2021 sub-inspector and platoon commander recruitment examination should not be cancelled, despite allegations of a paper leak.
Appearing for the state, Advocate General Rajendra Prasad presented a cabinet sub-committee report which stated that it would be “premature” to cancel the recruitment process. Additional Advocate General Vigyan Shah told reporters, “The SIT is conducting a detailed investigation and making arrests. It is possible to segregate tainted from non-tainted candidates.”
The matter is slated for the next hearing on July 7.
Senior advocate R.N. Mathur, representing the selected candidates, argued that cancelling the exam would unjustly affect many innocent aspirants. “The sub-committee has stated there is no objection in a large number of cases. For a few tainted candidates, the entire exam cannot be scrapped,” he said.
Countering this, senior advocates Major R.P. Singh and Harendra Neel, representing the petitioners demanding cancellation, said they would respond during the next hearing. Neel also highlighted the four key recommendations of the committee:
- Continued investigation by the Special Investigation Team (SIT),
- Debarring tainted candidates from future government recruitment,
- Not cancelling the current recruitment,
- Advertising new vacancies and giving age relaxation in the next exam.
The sub-committee’s findings were reportedly approved by Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma.
The Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) had in 2021 advertised 859 posts for sub-inspector and platoon commander. Following allegations of a paper leak, the state government handed over the investigation to the Special Operations Group (SOG), which arrested over 50 trainee sub-inspectors and others in connection with the scandal.
A cabinet sub-committee was constituted in 2024 to recommend whether the recruitment process should be cancelled.
