The Jharkhand High Court has urged JSSC CGL candidates to cooperate with the SIT probe and barred harassment of innocent candidates.
Justice Deepak Roshan said a summons does not by itself mean guilt.
The court directed that no successful candidate should suffer mental or administrative distress.
Retired judge Gautam Kumar Chaudhary will monitor the investigation.
The next hearing is on October 7.
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.
Petitioners had told the court that the SIT was repeatedly questioning several innocent students and that monitoring was needed to prevent unnecessary harassment.
The bench expressed concern that innocent candidates were being repeatedly summoned and harassed under the guise of investigation, according to AajTak.
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.
Jharkhand Police flag (representative image), Wikimedia Commons, CC0
