HC denies stay on FRO appointment cancellation, seeks Govt reply

The Jharkhand High Court on Monday, August 24, refused to grant a stay on a government notification cancelling the appointments of Forest Range Officers (FROs), and directed the state government to file its response in the matter.

The court fixed September 24 as the next date of hearing, according to the order.

The JMM-led state government had on August 18 cancelled 22 examinations, including that for FROs, and ordered a probe into 23 other tests conducted since 2014, amid a weeks-long students' agitation over alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations.

On August 22, the high court had stayed notifications cancelling the appointments of Child Development Project Officers (CDPOs) and those recruited through the JSSC-CGL examination, according to the report.

A day earlier, on August 21, the court had stayed notifications cancelling the 11th and 13th Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) examinations, besides putting a clamp on the order scrapping the appointments of food safety officers.

The high court also made it clear that it would take up the matter on September 15 at 12:15 p.m., earlier than the originally scheduled 2:15 p.m.

(Inputs from PTI)