The complaints triggered protests in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Thane, Bhandara, Washim, Nanded and other parts of Maharashtra, with candidates demanding a re-examination

Published on: Aug 17, 2026, 08:24:30 IST

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MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court’s clerk recruitment typing test was hit by technical glitches and administrative issues at examination centres across Maharashtra on Sunday, prompting protests by candidates and a demand for a fresh examination. Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke joined the protest by candidates in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and demanded that the test be conducted afresh.

Candidates appearing for the typing test for clerical posts, including typists and stenographers, alleged that computers malfunctioned, servers failed, examination software was slow and keyboards did not function properly at several centres. They also complained of inadequate arrangements and said some systems logged them out abruptly, affecting their performance.

The complaints triggered protests in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Thane, Bhandara, Washim, Nanded and other parts of Maharashtra, with candidates demanding a re-examination.

Dipke visited an examination centre in the Surananagar area of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar after learning about the disruption and met affected candidates. He alleged that several candidates had been declared failed through no fault of their own and joined their demand for a fresh test.

“The state government is not even able to conduct these court examinations properly. All of them appearing at this centre in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar have failed because of the malfunctioning in the system. The candidates have not failed, the system has failed,” he said.

Dipke said the agitation would continue until the authorities gave a written assurance that the test would be conducted again. He also demanded that the district court judge, whom he said was present inside the examination centre, come out, speak to the candidates and provide them with a written assurance about a re-test.

Around 13,000 candidates across Maharashtra were eligible to appear for the typing test, conducted in three sessions for 1,300 posts under the High Court’s Nagpur and Aurangabad benches. Around 2,900 candidates from Marathwada and Vidarbha appeared at various centres in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. The alleged disruption occurred during the 10am to 11.15am session.

A candidate from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar said the typing examination did not begin simultaneously for all candidates. The candidate alleged that some computers were old, keyboards were not functioning and servers were down, preventing candidates from logging in. “When we complained, the court authorities overseeing the examination did not pay heed to our complaints. The systems provided to us logged off abruptly, resulting in candidates being declared failed in the typing examination,” the candidate said.

Candidates also alleged that some computer screens turned yellow and keyboards stopped working during the examination.

Protests erupt in Thane

In Thane, around 300 aspirants appearing for the High Court Typing Skill Test staged a protest at the Kalyan APMC Market examination centre after facing technical glitches and other issues. The aspirants demanded that the examination be conducted afresh. During the protest, they also stopped the vehicle of a judge to inform him about their demands.

The test at the Kalyan centre was scheduled to be conducted in three shifts. However, after the first batch came out, aspirants alleged that the computers and keyboards had not functioned properly and that they had faced slow server issues.

After hearing about the problems faced by the first batch, candidates from the second and third batches refused to appear for the examination, saying they feared they would either fail or be marked absent because of the malfunctioning computers and faulty keyboards.

Pratik Sable, an aspirant at Kalyan, said the first batch came out at around 5pm. After they informed the second batch about the problems they had faced, the remaining aspirants decided not to appear for the examination. They demanded that the first batch should not be marked absent and that a re-examination should be conducted.

The situation led to a sit-in protest outside the examination centre, with the aspirants pressing for a fresh test. The students also stopped the vehicle of the district judge and placed their demands before him. Meanwhile, Abhijeet Dipke allegedly spoke to some of the students over a video call and advised them not to give up until their concerns were resolved.

In Nanded, candidates alleged that faulty keyboards, small screens and slow examination software affected the test. Candidates who had travelled from Bhandara, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Beed and Ambajogai said they were kept waiting for several hours. Some candidates who entered the centres around 10am reportedly remained inside until 3pm, while candidates scheduled for subsequent batches waited outside.

They also alleged that they were informed at the last minute, without an official notification, that the test would be conducted in a screen-to-screen format. Dipke said aspirants had travelled from Beed, Ambajogai, Amravati, Latur and other parts of Maharashtra and had prepared for the examination for six to seven months.

“Where will they go now? What will they tell their parents? Will they go home with a failure certificate and say that they failed because the server was not working?” he asked. He demanded an immediate written notification announcing a re-examination and insisted that the fresh test should not be conducted on the same computers.

“The examination must be conducted again, and it should not be held on the same computers. This should not happen again because the future of these aspirants is at stake,” he said. The Bombay High Court, however, said the typing examination for the post of clerk, conducted through the agency concerned, was carried out smoothly, while acknowledging that a few technical issues had been reported at certain examination centres, particularly at Aurangabad and Kalyan.

In a communication issued by the High Court registrar (personnel), the court said the technical issues, if any, relating to the process conducted by the agency were being examined and that candidates would be informed through official communication about the further appropriate course of action. Dipke also criticised the conduct of online examinations without adequate infrastructure. “If you are not capable of conducting online examinations, why are you conducting them and ruining the future of students?” he asked.

He alleged that the incident reflected a broader problem of inadequate infrastructure in educational institutions and said he had earlier raised similar concerns regarding school infrastructure. He said candidates should not be blamed for a technical failure.

“Until the demands of these candidates are fulfilled, I will remain here with them. If they have decided to sit in protest, I will support them,” Dipke said.

With inputs from Kaptan Mali

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