The Jharkhand High Court has told the SIT probing the JSSC CGL recruitment that summoning a person is not proof of guilt.
Justice Deepak Roshan acknowledged that agencies may need to summon several people, but said a summons should not cause anyone to be treated as guilty.
The court voiced concern that innocent candidates were being summoned again and again.
Candidates were told to cooperate with the investigation while being protected from exploitation.
The next hearing in the case is on October 7.
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.
A retired IPS officer, named in reports as R.K. Malik, has been designated nodal officer to coordinate between the SIT and Justice Chaudhary.
The monitoring arrangement operates independently of the court’s own proceedings and is meant to keep the investigation transparent.
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.
Jharkhand Police flag (representative image), Wikimedia Commons, CC0
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