AP high court to monitor SIT probe into Group-1 evaluation irregularities

Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh high court on Friday said it will monitor the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into alleged irregularities in the evaluation of Group-1 answer sheets. The court said that it is expecting a transparent and sincere investigation into the issue.The high court earlier directed the state govt to constitute an SIT with an officer not below the rank of additional director general of police (ADGP) to probe alleged irregularities in the 2018 Group-1 examination evaluation and transfer the successful candidates who joined service to non-focal positions. Following the court's order, the govt constituted an SIT headed by Ravishankar Ayyannar, but did not transfer the officers within the specified time.The high court pulled up the chief secretary for not following the court orders and granted an additional day to transfer the officials. Following the orders, the state govt transferred 86 officers. The special govt pleader S Pranati on Friday informed the high court that the orders were complied with and a memo was filed to that effect.Considering her submissions, the court bench comprising justice Battu Devanand and justice Hari Haranatha Sharma said they would monitor the investigation and continue to hear the case until a logical conclusion is reached.`Meanwhile, the High Court issued notices to the chief secretary, K Vijayanand and principal secretary in the general administration department (GAD), Shyamala Rao, in the contempt petition filed against them for not implementing the court orders. One Gorla Sujatha, one of the petitioners in the batch, moved a contempt petition for not following the court's orders issued on Feb 11. The matter has been posted for further hearing on March 16.