The Jharkhand High Court on Friday stayed the state government’s decision to cancel the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission-Combined Graduate Level (JSSC-CGL) examination and the Child Development Project Officer (CDPO) examination.It was the cancellation of the JSSC-CGL examination that broke the deadlock between the state government and student protesters who agreed to call off their stir on August 19 after 25 days.The development comes a day after the HC stayed the government’s decision to cancel appointments made through the 11th to 13th Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) Combined Civil Services examinations, and the recruitment of Food Safety Officers (FSO).The matter was heard by Justice Deepak Roshan, who had also heard the petitions challenging the government’s cancellation of the 11th to 13th JPSC examinations and FSO recruitment on Thursday.On Friday, several JSSC-CGL employees approached the High Court, challenging the government’s decision. The petitioners argued that blanket cancellation of examinations and appointments would adversely affect candidates who had cleared the recruitment process and, in several cases, had already joined government service.Must Read | Jharkhand HC stays job exam cancellation: What happens to candidates now?JSSC-CGL petitioner’s counsel Arpan M Ekka told The Indian Express that following Thursday’s order in the JPSC 11th–13th and Food Safety Officer matter, the petitioners in this case also approached the HC on Friday and challenged the government’s cancellation notification.In the CDPO matter, the petition was filed on Thursday by candidates through advocate Arpan Mishra, and the matter was taken up by the court on Friday. Mishra told The Indian Express that the court has granted a stay on the government’s cancellation of the CDPO examination. He said the order was on similar lines to the relief granted in the other recruitment matters.Story continues below this adIn the matter heard on Thursday, the court stayed the government notifications until further orders and directed that the affected selected candidates be reinstated, while seeking a response from the state government and the JPSC. The next hearing has been fixed for September 15.The High Court’s intervention came two days after the state government released a series of notifications, cancelling 22 recruitment examinations.‘Had faith would get justice’Reacting to the High Court’s intervention, Prince Rajput, one of the petitioners in the JSSC-CGL matter, told The Indian Express that the candidates would take out a Tiranga Yatra from the area around Project Bhawan to mark what they described as a victory.“We welcome the court’s decision. We had faith that we would get justice because we had worked hard and cleared the examination on merit,” Rajput said. He said the candidates hoped to return to their government offices soon and described the development as a win for them.Setback to protestersStory continues below this adThe agitation at Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium in Ranchi began on July 25 over alleged irregularities in the 14th JPSC Combined Civil Services preliminary examination. Subsequently, it expanded to include several other examinations, including the JSSC-CGL.Following talks between government representatives and student delegations, the government agreed to several demands, including cancellation of the 14th JPSC prelims examination and the 2023 and 2025 JPSC backlog examinations. However, the issue of the JSSC-CGL remained a major point of disagreement.After a prolonged Cabinet meeting at Project Bhawan on August 17, Chief Minister Hemant Soren announced that the JSSC-CGL examination would be cancelled. The government also announced the cancellation of all examination results and selections linked to private agency TSR Data Processing Private Limited (TDPL).The following day, on August 18, the Personnel Department issued notifications formally cancelling 22 examinations. Six examination processes were kept on hold and 17 others were placed under investigation, affecting a total of 45 examinations.Story continues below this adThe government’s decision to cancel the examination had been presented as one of the major outcomes of the students’ 25-day agitation. However, the orders have disappointed the protesters who were sitting in protest to press for the demands to cancel JPSC and JSSC exams.Responding to the HC’s stay orders, the JPSC-JSSC Reform Manch, one of the agitating groups, has announced that its members would burn CM Soren’s effigy in all 24 districts on Friday.