TSR Data Processing Private Limited (TDPL), the testing firm at the heart of the Jharkhand government’s decision to cancel the state selection commission’s Combined Graduate Level exams, has a dubious record of alleged irregularities and “nepotism” that trails all the way to Lucknow in neighbouring UP.

In 2021-22, TDPL was one of three firms that conducted exams for 186 vacancies in administrative positions at secretariats of the UP Legislative Assembly and Council. In November 2024, an investigation by found that a fifth of these jobs went to relatives of VVIPs and officials under whose watch the exams were conducted — including at least five relatives of TDPL directors Ram Beer Singh and Satya Pal Singh.

Last month, Ram Beer and key TDPL employees were arrested by Jharkhand Police’s CID probing alleged irregularities in exams for government recruitments. The whereabouts of Satya Pal are not known, sources said. TDPL did not respond to an emailed request for comment on Tuesday.

In the UP case, the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court had described the irregularities linked to TDPL as “shocking”, raising questions of “integrity” and “nepotism”, and called for a CBI probe.

The High Court also highlighted opacity in the conduct of the exams: the results were never made public, the list of selected candidates was not disclosed, and the total number of applicants remains unknown. The CBI probe was later quashed by the Supreme Court on a plea by the UP Legislative Council but the matter is still pending before the High Court.

According to court records, the UP Assembly recruitment was contracted to Broadcasting Engineering and Consultancy Services (BECIL), a Central Public Sector Enterprise under the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. BECIL hired TDPL to conduct the recruitment.

Sources in the UP administration said the company has not been awarded any government contract for conducting exams since the High Court took up the Assembly recruitment case.

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On Tuesday, visited the “main office” of TDPL as listed in Registrar of Companies (RoC) records — a two-room set-up on the second floor of Adarsh Complex at Engineering College Chauraha in Lucknow. It found the office sealed.

When contacted, Station House Officer of the local Madiaon police station, Shivanand, said five police personnel from Jharkhand had visited Lucknow three days ago and sought assistance to conduct a search at the TDPL office.

“They arrived with a search warrant, and the Lucknow Police assisted them in the operation. The Jharkhand Police searched the premises and sealed the office. They also seized several documents. No office staff was present when the search was conducted,” Shivanand said.

RoC records show that TDPL was incorporated in July 2010 by Ram Beer and Satya Pal, along with Mohammed Tariq, who exited the firm in 2013.

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According to the company’s latest declaration on August 29, 2025, for the financial year ending March 31, 2025, Ram Beer Singh and Satya Pal are the only two promoters. Each owns a 50 per cent stake, comprising 5,000 equity shares. The company has shown 965 employees and declared that all of them are male.

In 2024-25, RoC records show, TDPL’s total “revenue from operations” stood at Rs 19.62 crore, against Rs 5.23 crore in 2023-24. Its total profit after tax in 2024-25 was Rs 48.54 lakh. The company’s authorised capital was Rs 16 lakh, and as per ROC records, its last board meeting was held on February 15, 2025. Ram Beer and Satya Pal each drew a salary of Rs 18.60 lakh in 2024-25.

Ram Beer and Satya Pal are also directors in four other firms: Smiling Developers Pvt Ltd, LKO Food and Beverages Pvt Ltd, KSR Infotech Pvt Ltd and Dreamlogix Infotech Ltd.

UP Police records, meanwhile, show that Ram Beer and Satya Pal are on bail in a separate recruitment case, based on a complaint registered in March 2021 by a Special Investigation Team probing the 2019 recruitment of Village Development Officers. Both were arrested on April 7, 2021, records show, with large quantities of cash allegedly recovered from them.