Rajasthan HC’s Division Bench stays cancellation of 2021 sub-inspector exams

On Monday, the Division Bench ordered an interim stay on the order but put an embargo on the fielding postings of the sub-inspectors who were recruited through the exams. The Bench also issued notice to the state government, which had previously opposed cancelling the exams.

In their appeal, some sub-inspectors recruited in the 2021 exams argued the government was not in favour of cancelling the recruitment.

A major flashpoint between the BJP and the Congress in Rajasthan, the allegations pertain to the RPSC’s 2021 recruitment exam for 859 sub-inspector and platoon commander posts.

After the allegations surfaced in 2021, the then Congress government handed over the investigation to Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Rajasthan Police. Over 50 trainee sub-inspectors, among others, have been arrested so far.

In 2024, the Rajasthan government formed a Cabinet sub-committee to decide whether to cancel the exam. In its report submitted to the high court in July, the sub-committee led by Rajasthan’s Law Minister Jogaram Patel had recommended that the exams should not be cancelled.

On August 28, a Single-Judge Bench of the Rajasthan High Court cancelled the Sub-Inspector Recruitment Examination, 2021, after finding large-scale irregularities in the process.

The court said that some members of the Rajasthan Public Service Commission – the body that conducted the exam — were “directly involved” in leaking both the papers and answer keys and noted that the “irregularities” were not confined to the test but that “even the interview stage was manipulated”.

Investigation, the court said, had also found malpractices such as dummy candidates, Bluetooth-enabled cheating, and copying inside exam halls.

Sub-Inspector recruitment “is a highly-sensitive matter linked with law and order, and allowing such tainted recruitment to stand would destroy public trust in the police force”.

“Fraud vitiates everything. Even if some honest candidates suffer, retaining the recruitment would mean legitimising large-scale corruption. In the Court’s view, the process was so tainted from within that no fair segregation of candidates was possible,” the Bench said.

The court’s decision sparked protests from the shortlisted candidates across Rajasthan.