The state govt is even willing to approach the SC to ensure that those accused by the one-man inquiry commission headed by Justice (retd.) BK Sharma in the APSC scam are not reinstated in their posts
Guwahati: The state government is even willing to approach the Supreme Court to ensure that those accused by the one-man inquiry commission headed by Justice (retd.) BK Sharma in the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) scam are not reinstated in their posts.
This was stated by Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma in his reply during a discussion on the BK Sharma Commission report in the Assam Assembly today. The CM said that already 39 accused named in the report have been dismissed from service. Another section of the accused were suspended, but the Gauhati High Court issued an order on their reinstatement that has been appealed against in the HC. The CM explained that punishment for the scam-accused is the responsibility of the judiciary, executive, and Assembly together.
The BK Sharma Commission had conducted an inquiry into the Combined Competitive Examination (CCE) 2013 and CCE 2014. In light of various anomalies detected, the Commission had recommended that both CCE 2013 and 2014 ought to be cancelled and held afresh. The CM held that this was not possible for legal and technical reasons.
The Chief Minister pointed out that the state of affairs prevailing in the APSC has been made possible due to the Tarun Gogoi government going out of its way to support Rakesh Paul. Paul met with Tarun Gogoi on September 6, 2008, and submitted an application seeking membership in the APSC. Former CM Gogoi had written a recommendation saying the application may be considered. On September 30, 2008, Paul was appointed a member of APSC. Chief Minister Sarma questioned how Paul was made a member within such a short time without verifying his credentials. Again in 2013, Gogoi instructed the chief secretary to appoint Paul as chairman of APSC. In spite of some technical observations by the chief secretary, the file was forwarded to the Governor, and it was approved by the Governor within only two days.
CM Sarma further said, “This was not the first time something like this happened. Earlier also, the Congress government had appointed a chairman of the APSC who was later investigated, and IT raids were conducted for anomalies committed by him. The government has a search committee to select the APSC chairman, but the Congress government disregarded the committee and appointed Paul. The rules of the search committee state that 50% of the members should be retired IAS/APS officers and 50% should be appointed from among renowned persons in their fields. Rakesh Paul was only a notary officer.”
The result of such unstinted support to Rakesh Paul was that the APSC lost its credibility and the state’s youth lost faith in the institution, the CM said, adding that it was an unprecedented step by former chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal to arrest the APSC chairman and members together.
“It was only after the BJP came to power that faith in the APSC has been restored. It may be APSC or recruitment exams for grades III and IV; all of them were conducted in a transparent manner, without any anomalies,” the CM added.
The CM also said, “There are many allegations against leaders in the BK Sharma Commission’s report. There is also mention of a valuable gift from Rakesh Paul at the wedding of MP Gaurav Gogoi, but after the report was tabled, Gogoi did not refute the allegation. We have written to the Income Tax department, and it will examine the matter.”
BJP MLA Manab Deka raised the matter relating to the discussion on the BK Sharma Commission report. CPI (M)’s Manoranjan Talukdar, AIUDF’s Aminul Islam, and MLAs Bhuban Pegu, Ramendra Narayan Kalita, Akhil Gogoi, Durga Das Boro, and Sushanta Borgohain, as well as leader of the opposition Debabrata Saikia, participated in the discussion in the House on Monday.
