APSC scam: HC notice to government on judge appt

GUWAHATI: The Gauhati high court on Friday issued a notice to the state government asking to file its reply citing reasons why it has not yet complied with a previous court order directing appointment of a retired judge to inquire into alleged anomalies in the civil services examinations conducted by the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC).

The high court’s response came after RTI activist Okram Prasanta Singha moved the court filing a civil contempt of the court case against the state government for not obeying the earlier order.

In 2015, the high court, taking up a petition by Singha, had ordered the state government to set up a probe by a retired judge to inquire into the alleged anomalies in the APSC selection process. Though

Rakesh Paul

, the prime accused in the case, subsequently moved Supreme Court challenging the order, the apex court dismissed Paul’s petition in March last year.

The petitioner, Singha, told TOI, “Since the SC has dismissed Paul’s plea, the state government by default should have obeyed the HC’s previous order to set up a judicial probe into the scam. But the state government so far has not acted upon it, which is contempt of court. A judicial probe is highly needed for a comprehensive enquiry into the matter to check into the various malpractices in paper setting, valuation, moderation and viva-voce, including the competence of experts chosen for paper-setting and valuation of answer scripts.”

Singha added that since the police investigation would only focus on the criminal aspects of the case, like forgery and bribery, only a judicial probe can reveal the other administrative malpractices in the system. “There were reports that teachers from different subjects inspect answer scripts of other subjects, raising questions upon the marking process of the commission too. That’s why we need a judicial probe too,” added the petitioner.

Meanwhile,

Dibrugarh

Police have filed an additional charge sheet against six accused persons — Avisika Barua, Sanjan Phukan, Debabrata

Dey

, Rakesh Gupta (absconder), Mrigen Saikia (absconder) and Mofidul Islam (absconder). Sources said that the state police have also been quizzing a few other civil servants on the basis of the statement of the accused persons.


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