The High Court on Monday stayed for three months the appointment of 3,534 junior instructors (technical) and physical education instructors at various polytechnic institutions under the Technical and Madrasah Education Division of the education ministry.
On January 23, 2025, separate notifications were issued, instructing the selected candidates to join their posts on January 29.
The bench of Justice Md Akram Hossain Chowdhury and Justice KM Rasheduzzaman Raja granted the stay after hearing a writ petition filed by Jahan Ara Begum and 17 other candidates who were disqualified in the recruitment process.
The court also directed the respondents to explain within four weeks why the final recruitment results, published on November 26, 2024, based on a job circular issued on October 26, 2021, should not be declared illegal.
Petitioners鈥� lawyer Kayser Kamal alleged that the recruitment process was marred by irregularities, including the failure to verify selected candidates through the National Security Intelligence screening.
The recruitment began with a gazette notification in October 2021, followed by a written examination in March 2022 and oral interviews in May and June of that year.
However, allegations of question paper leaks emerged in media reports in 2024, with one report revealing suspicious financial transactions in the accounts of Public Service Commission officials around the time of the examinations.
Despite the allegations and an ongoing investigation by the Criminal Investigation Department, the PSC published the final results in November 2024.
Kayser Kamal argued that the appointments should have been suspended until the investigation into the irregularities was concluded, citing the suspension of railway recruitments in similar circumstances.
The petitioners鈥� legal team included AZM Nurul Amin, Maksud Ullah, Roknuzzaman Shuja and Shafiqul Islam.
