Recently, the Rajasthan High Court upheld the cancellation of the 2021 Sub-Inspector (SI) recruitment exam.

The division bench comprising,  Acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma, agreed with the ruling that scrapped the entire recruitment process.

However, the court set aside the part of the single-judge order where suo motu action was taken against members of the Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC).

As per the advocate Harendra Neel, who appeared for the petitioners, the court made it clear that restarting or continuing the recruitment process at this stage is not practical. As a result, the 2021 SI recruitment will remain cancelled.

The recruitment notification was originally issued on February 3, 2021, for 859 posts. Nearly 7.97 lakh candidates applied, and around 3.8 lakh appeared for the written exam held in September 2021. Of these, over 20,000 candidates cleared the physical test, and 3,291 reached the interview stage. The final results were announced on June 1, 2023.

The process later came under serious scrutiny due to allegations of malpractice. An investigation by the Special Operations Group (SOG) revealed the involvement of senior RPSC officials. The controversy escalated politically, leading to the arrest of RPSC members Ramuram Raika and Babulal Katra.

A petition seeking cancellation of the exam was filed in August 2024. After detailed hearings, a single-judge bench cancelled the recruitment in August 2025. This decision was challenged by selected candidates before the division bench, which initially stayed the order.

The matter then reached the Supreme Court of India, which upheld the cancellation and directed the High Court to deliver a final verdict within three months. It also stayed the field postings of selected candidates.