Overview
- The Supreme Court bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, which issued notice on Wednesday, stayed the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s February 4 order that had scrapped the chargesheet against eight Haryana Civil Services officers.
- The stay leaves the officers’ induction to the Indian Administrative Service on hold because promotions cannot proceed while criminal charges stand unresolved.
- The High Court had quashed the June 30, 2023 report under Section 173 of the Criminal Procedure Code after finding an 18‑year delay, no prior probe of the officers, and that they were not named in the 2005 FIR.
- The Haryana Anti‑Corruption Bureau’s chargesheet, filed in a Hisar court, named eight 2002‑batch HCS officers and a total of 29 accused, including former Haryana Public Service Commission staff and exam paper checkers.
- Former minister Karan Singh Dalal brought the appeal alleging forgery, tampering and favoritism in the 2001 selections, and the Supreme Court made the case returnable within four weeks for the state, ACB and the officers to respond.