The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the declaration of the results of the Staff Selection Commission’s Combined Graduate Level Examination 2017 and the Combined Senior Secondary Level Examination, the Hindustan Times reported. The court called the entire system tainted and said it cannot permit people to benefit from the scam and get into government service.

The Staff Selection Commission is a government organisation that conducts exams to recruit staff for various ministries and central government departments.

In February, candidates alleged that question papers of the combined graduate level exam had been leaked on social media. Aspirants then started massive protests and demanded an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation. The Centre ordered the central agency to investigate the incident after the Supreme Court agreed to hear the matter.

On May 23, the investigative agency registered a case against 17 people, including 10 employees of Sify Technologies, in connection with the case. Earlier that month, a state government official was arrested on suspicion that he was the mastermind of a syndicate that helped students cheat in the examinations.