GUWAHATI: A special court in Assam on Friday granted permission for re-examination of the answer sheets of the combined competitive exams (CCE) conducted by the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) in 2013.
The development came days after the special court ordered framing of charges against former APSC chairman Rakesh Kumar Paul in the 2014 cash-for-job scam.
Special judge Dipak Thakuria ordered that the charges be framed under Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 13 (2) (public servant committing criminal misconduct) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Based on an FIR filed by one Shon Kumar Baishya, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had registered a case against Paul for allegedly taking bribes for civil service examination selection for the year 2014.
The CID had filed a chargesheet against Paul, which was registered as special case number 4/2021 by the Special Judges Court.
Paul, who was appointed as the APSC chairman in 2013, was arrested in November 2016 after the police found his alleged involvement in taking bribes in lieu of providing jobs to civil services aspirants.
Besides Paul, nearly 70 people, including 55 civil service officers, have been arrested since 2016 when the scam was unearthed.
The court’s permission for re-examination of answer sheets is likely to expose more civil officers who got the jobs by adopting unfair means.