Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) Abhijeet Dipke on Sunday, August 16, joined a protest by candidates who had appeared for the Bombay High Court’s clerk recruitment typing test but were declared failed within minutes of the exam due to slow software, faulty equipment, server failures, abrupt logouts and non-functional keyboards during the exam.

Seeking a retest, Dipke joined the sit-in protest by candidates outside the examination centres in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

Abhijeet Dipke visited the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar examination centre and told the mediapersons that the candidates had travelled from far-off places and sought that the re-examination be held immediately. The students demanded that they be given different computers for the retest, not the same that declared them failed.

Post the controversy, the HC Registrar (Personnel) issued a notice regarding the typing examination which stated: “Under the instructions, it is hereby informed that today all over Maharashtra the above-referred Typing examination was smoothly conducted for the post of Clerk (through the Agency).”

“It is, however, reported that there were a few technical issues at certain examination centres, more particularly at Aurangabad and Kalyan,” it said.

“The technical issues, if any, regarding the said process conducted at the hands of the Agency are being examined, and the candidates shall be duly informed by official communication about further appropriate course of action,” it added.

‘If candidates fail typing test…’: What test advertisement said

As per the advertisement issued by the Registrar General of the Bombay HC on December 8, 2025, online applications were invited from candidates for the post of clerk on the establishment of the HC for 830 posts at its principal seat in Mumbai and 166 and 366 posts at the benches at Nagpur and Aurangabad (situated at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar), respectively. Nearly 13, 000 candidates were eligible for the exam.

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The selection process, as per the advertisement, included a 90-mark screening test, a 20-mark typing test, and a 40-mark viva-voce. With minimum passing marks of 10 out of 20, the advertisement stated, “If the candidate fails in typing test he/she will not be considered for the post of clerk.”