The Railway Board has cancelled all outstanding Group C departmental tests, such as Limited Departmental Competitive Examinations (LDCEs) and General Departmental Competitive Examinations (GDCEs), indefinitely. The move comes after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted an inquiry into a paper leak for the recruitment process of Chief Loco Inspector posts in the East Central Railway zone, namely the Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Nagar (Mughalsarai) division.

The Railway Board’s order, conveyed in a letter by Rajeev Ranjan, Joint Director of Establishment, Railway Board, mentioned that some irregularities had been found in the recent departmental selections. The letter, addressed to the general managers of the 19 zones, said that all selections in Group C, including LDCEs and GDCEs, which had not been finalized by March 4, 2025, would be considered cancelled. In addition, it announced that there would be no new recruitments until further order. The Railway Board reaffirmed the need to review and renovate the departmental selection process, as indicated by the recent irregularities of serious nature. 

The development followed the arrest of 26 railway officials, including gazetted officers, accused of their roles in the paper leak scandal. The probe conducted in the early part of March 2025 exposed a huge conspiracy to distribute the question papers of the Chief Loco Inspector exam. CBI personnel conducted several raids at eight places during the evening of March 3-4, which unearthed Rs 1.17 crore in cash. The money was said to have been collected from candidates in return for access to the leaked question papers.

Besides the seizures of cash, the CBI recovered handwritten versions of the leaked question papers. These were later discovered to be identical to the original question papers, validating the authenticity of the leak. The CBI filed a case against a senior divisional electrical engineer (DEE) and eight other railway officials who were part of the scandal. The case also contains an unknown candidate and other unidentifiable individuals who are alleged to be part of the conspiracy. The accused were booked under different sections of the Indian Penal Code, namely criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, and cheating. Prevention of Corruption Act was also applied, with sections 7, 7A, and 8 being enforced against the accused officials.

The probe found that the senior divisional electrical engineer (Sr DEE), who was given the responsibility of preparing the examination paper, had written the questions in English. These were purportedly handed over to a loco pilot, who translated the questions into Hindi. The translated questions were then given to an office superintendent (OS), who was a key figure in distributing the leaked papers. The OS, in return, distributed the question papers among candidates via a network of railway staff. The CBI raids discovered 17 candidates with photocopies of the handwritten question papers during the inquiry in DDU Nagar.

The leak of the paper has thrown serious doubts regarding the integrity of the recruitment process of Indian Railways. The cancellation of all pending departmental exams by the Railway Board is viewed as a measure to solve the problem and restore confidence in the selection process. By postponing all pending LDCEs and GDCEs, the Railway Board seeks to make sure that a new selection system is established to avoid such malpractices occurring in the future.

The CBI probe into the paper leak scandal is still in progress, with attempts to identify and arrest all those who were part of the conspiracy. The arrested railway staff have been charged with misusing their position of authority and trust for personal benefit, compromising the integrity of the recruitment process. The case has highlighted the loopholes in the recruitment system and the necessity for tighter controls to check corruption and malpractice.

The cancellation of the examinations has impacted a significant number of railway staff who were hoping to get departmental promotions under these competitive exams. For most applicants, the examinations were a valuable chance of career growth in the Indian Railways. Nevertheless, the move by the Railway Board is indicative of an uncompromising attitude against corruption and malpractice, marking an emphasis on ensuring transparency and merit in the recruitment procedure.

As the probe progresses, the Railway Board has stated that further orders would be given to control future selections after the new departmental selection system is settled. The decision to cancel the exams and reform the selection process is regarded as a major step towards making sure that the recruitment system in Indian Railways is corruption- and irregularity-free, regaining public faith in the integrity and fairness of the selection process.