Ranchi: The Jharkhand High Court has stayed the CBI investigation ordered in connection with the controversy surrounding students of Dhanbad Institute of Technology (DIT), who were reportedly not allowed to appear in their examinations.
A division bench of Chief Justice M.S. Sonak and Justice Rajesh Shankar passed the interim order while hearing an appeal by the state government and the Jharkhand University of Technology (JUT). The case will be heard next on January 29.
The CBI informed the court that it had already initiated a preliminary inquiry in line with the earlier directions of the High Court.
Representing the state, Advocate General Rajiv Ranjan told the court that DIT had been granted permission to admit only 60 students as of September 9, 2025, but had instead admitted 138 students, in violation of established norms. Despite this, the institute sought relief from the High Court, he said.
It was further submitted that DIT’s writ petition was heard on January 12 and 13, following which a single bench on January 13 ordered a CBI probe. The state government and JUT challenged this order before the division bench.
In its earlier order, the single bench had termed the issue grave, stating that barring engineering students from examinations amounted to playing with their future. The bench had directed the CBI to examine the role of AICTE and JUT in the matter.
The single bench also pointed out that although AICTE had approved DIT’s intake for the 2025–26 academic session on April 30, 2025, students were later disallowed from appearing in exams, indicating serious lapses and irregularities.
With inputs from IANS