New Delhi: TSR Data Processing Private Limited (TDPL), which was entrusted with conducting the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) examinations end-to-end since at least 2025, had been blacklisted in 2024 for three years. Yet, the IT firm was awarded the contract—without even participating in a tendering process. Instead, it was directly “nominated” for the contract to conduct the examination, ThePrint has learnt.
The irregularities did not end there. A probe by the Jharkhand Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has revealed that the answer key for the JPSC Preliminary Examination was allegedly shared over WhatsApp with TDPL employees, more than a month before the results were scheduled to be declared.
Investigators suspect the answer key was used to fill in responses on OMR sheets that candidates had left blank.
According to CID sources, the investigating agency unearthed answer sheets submitted by candidates for the Forest Range Officer examination from TDPL’s office in Ranchi—despite the company having no legitimate reason to possess them.
The JPSC conducted the FRO recruitment examination in January.
During questioning, a TDPL employee allegedly told investigators that the answer sheets had been sent to the company by its employees involved in conducting the examination, the source said.
ThePrint has sent a detailed query to JPSC via email, and the article will be updated as and when a response is received.
The CID conducted the inquiry on the recommendation of the Jharkhand home department amid mounting allegations over the irregularities in the JPSC examination that took place on 19 April for 103 posts in the Group A and B Civil Services.
Apart from the FRO exam, the JPSC conducts more than half a dozen competitive tests such as those for recruitment to the posts of Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF), Food Safety Officer (FSO), Child Development Project Officer (CDPO), and Assistant Public Prosecutor (APP).
Based on the CID’s findings, an FIR was lodged on 22 July following which Deputy Controller of Examinations, JPSC, Shweta Kumari Gupta and 18 others have been arrested, so far. The CID has also questioned JPSC former chairperson L. Khiangte, and arrested one of his employees on Wednesday.
“Shweta Kumari Gupta revealed that the work order to conduct the examination was issued to the company on nomination and that no tender process was conducted,” a source privy to the findings of the CID probe told ThePrint.
The CID questioned Gupta if any background check was done with regard to the JSSC blacklisting the firm for three years for misconduct and not complying with the terms and conditions set in the tender for conducting the Combined Graduate Level held in September 2024, or the company’s directors previously arrested by the UP Special Task Force for irregularities in an entrance test.
The CID allegedly found that TDPL was entrusted with responsibility for all processes related to conducting the examination on an “end-to-end” basis, resulting in no check-and-balance mechanism for its conduct and operations, which the agency officer said warranted “serious investigation.”
“She (Gupta) revealed during questioning that no background check of the company was conducted at her level and that the work was awarded to the agency after obtaining approval on the file based on nomination,” a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP)-level officer had submitted to CID chief Manoj Kaushik, according to the source privy to the details.
“The issuance of a work order to such a company to conduct sensitive examinations—without adhering to the established rules governing exams by a significant institution like the JPSC—raises suspicions and warrants investigation,” it added.
(Edited by Tony Rai)