Jaipur, Sept. 25 -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the training of the probationers of the Sub-Inspector 2021 batch and granted the Rajasthan high court three months to decide on the cancellation of the exam after massive paper-leak allegations, officials aware of the matter said. Additional advocate general of Rajasthan, Shiv Managal Sharma, said, "A Supreme Court bench comprising justice Sanjay Karol and justice Manmohan today stayed the interim directions issued by the Rajasthan high court division bench. The high court had earlier permitted the selected SI candidates to participate in training but restrained their field postings. The Supreme Court, however, disagreed with this arrangement and held that no training shall be imparted to the selected candidates until the high court finally decides the main appeal." A division bench of the Rajasthan high court on September 24 put a stay on the cancellation of the examination which was earlier ordered by a single-bench of the same court on August 28 over a paper-leak allegation. However, the division bench, while hearing a petition by 178 selected candidates challenging the single bench's order allowed the training of the SIs be continued despite their field posting being suspended. Thereafter, the 24 petitioners who filed the petition with the single bench challenged this division bench's order in the Supreme Court last week. While hearing this petition, the apex court, on Wednesday, directed that the division bench of the high court shall preferably decide the appeal within three months. "Meanwhile, the position as directed by the single judge's order dated 18 November 2024-which had stalled the entire selection and training process-shall continue," said Sharma quoting the SC's order. Sharma also said that the government urged the court to allow training to continue without giving field postings, as permitted by the high court division bench. However, the Supreme Court categorically disagreed and ordered a complete halt to training. A single judge bench of the high court presided over by justice Sameer Jain cancelled the SI-2021 exam on August 28 which was notified to hire 859 people in the vacant posts, over large-level paper leak allegations across the state prompting the Special Operation Group (SOG) to arrest at least 130 people since March 2024, officials said. While cancelling, Jain said, "To uphold the Rajasthan Police's motto of 'Trust in the Public and Fear in the Criminals,' cancelling the 2021 Sub-Inspector recruitment examination is imperative. This is necessitated by the fact that the tainted examination, plagued by malpractices yet to be fully uncovered, would erode public confidence in the police. Such an outcome would alarm both the public and state machinery, indicating a breakdown in trust crucial for effective policing and law and order maintenance." The petition was floated after the SOG has arrested 130 people including 55 trainee SIs and also two ex-Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) members Babulal Katara and Ramu Ram Raika in the case. The single judge bench also said that the candidates of the 2021 batch should be included in the upcoming SI recruitment exam in September this year to provide innocent candidates a second chance. The single judge bench's development also came days after the six-member sub-committee of the Rajasthan government led by the parliamentary affairs minister Jogaram Patel submitted a detailed report to the court in July stating that they are not considering cancellation of the exam as "it will be a premature decision. Only a negligible proportion (6.3%) of the total candidates have been found cheating in the exam," read the government's report. It also said that the SIT is in a position to segregate the tainted and untainted candidates....