Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday (July 23, 2026), rejected Union Minister J.P. Nadda’s claim linking his government to the Services Selection Board (SSB) paper leak in Jammu and Kashmir, saying the incident occurred under the Lieutenant Governor’s (L-G) administration in 2022, long before his government took office in 2024.
Mr. Abdullah was responding to remarks made by Mr. Nadda during a press conference on Wednesday (July 22, 2026), where the Union Health Minister accused the National Conference and the Congress of remaining silent on paper leak scandals.
“You are absolutely correct about the SSB paper leak in Jammu and Kashmir @JPNadda ji but you have got the date wrong. It was 2022,” Mr. Abdullah said in a post on X.
“The government wasn’t of National Conference and Congress. It was a government headed by L-G but thank you for reminding everyone of this failure. It involved these observations and orders of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court,” he said.
The Chief Minister also attached a portion of the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court order, in which directions were given to the LG-led administration for constituting a high-powered committee headed by a retired High Court Judge to probe the conduct of the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board (JKSSB) for its ‘brazen irregularities’.
“We have no idea what happened to the High Level Committee or its report. Perhaps you can share that with us in your next press conference,” Mr. Abdullah said.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration was forced to cancel recruitment examinations conducted by the JKSSB for several posts, including sub-inspectors, junior engineers, and finance accounts assistants, following widespread allegations of paper leaks and corruption in 2022.
The administration had faced severe backlash for hiring the Mumbai-based Aptech Limited to conduct the computer-based tests, despite the company having a history of being blacklisted by multiple State governments over alleged malpractices.
Published – July 23, 2026 02:03 pm IST
