Jaipur, Feb 22 : The Rajasthan High Court -- in connection with the Sub-Inspector (SI) recruitment matter -- has given the state government two months to take necessary action while maintaining the ban on field postings in the recruitment process.

The government will have the liberty to make decisions regarding the matter and submit its report to the High Court following its resolution. The next hearing is scheduled for May 2.

Earlier, on Thursday, the government requested a four-month extension for a final decision.

However, the High Court deemed four months excessive, stating that a decision could be made within two months.

The court was, however, open to granting up to three months if necessary.

Additional Advocate General Vigyan Shah presented his side on behalf of the government during the hearing in the High Court.

After the consent of all parties, the court gave two months for a decision instead of four months.

In such a situation, the state government will be able to take a decision independently at its level and will present its report in the court.

After the decision of the state government, the court will decide the points of decision, said officials.

During the two-month time given by the High Court, the status quo orders on recruitment will continue.

The ban on field posting and training of trainee SI will also continue.

The case involves multiple parties, including the petitioners, the government, and trainee sub-inspectors.

The petitioners argue that the recruitment should be cancelled, citing recommendations from the Special Operations Group (SOG), Police Headquarters, Accountant General, and the Cabinet Sub-Committee, all of which have suggested scrapping the recruitment process.

On the other hand, trainee sub-inspectors argue that they were not involved in the paper leak and have left other government jobs for this opportunity. They claim that cancelling the recruitment would be unjust to those who secured their positions legitimately.

Investigations have revealed that the question paper for the 2021 Sub-Inspector recruitment exam was leaked.

The SOG probe also uncovered cases where dummy candidates were deployed to take the exam on behalf of others.

Further investigations found that several candidates secured jobs fraudulently. So far, the SOG has arrested around 50 trainee sub-inspectors in connection with the case, of whom 25 have been granted bail by the High Court.

With the next hearing set for May 2, the future of the SI recruitment process remains uncertain as the government will be working on preparing its response.

/IANS