The BJP led Assam Government has decided to move a proposal to Assam Governor seeking suspension of arrested chairman of Assam Public Service Commission (APSC), Rakesh Paul, who was arrested by the Police last week for his alleged involvement in the cash for job scam.
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal convened a hurried Cabinet meeting on Wednesday evening and it was unanimously decided to move a proposal to Assam Governor seeking to remove APSC chairman. A special team of Police from Assam’s Dibrugarh district had arrested the tainted APSC chairman while investigating a bribery case of Dibrugarh district.
Police claimed to have received substantial evidence against Paul to prove his involvement in the scam. After his arrest on November 4, the police had on Tuesday arrested one of the members of the APSC for his involvement in the scam. There had been allegation that Paul and some of his trusted members of the APSC took huge money selecting candidates for the Assam civil service examination and other officers for different departments of the State.
It may be mentioned here that Assam had witnessed several rounds of agitations in the past few years against the irregularities and corruption in the APSC, particularly during the conducting the Assam Civil Service examinations and other allied service examinations. There had been also allegations of Paul obtaining assets disproportionate to his known source of income and that Paul has acquired assets in the name of his wife, his brother, his driver and other relatives.
last year, the Gauhati High Court had asked the CBI to carry out a probe, particularly regarding the assets possessed by Paul, his wife, brother and driver. The High Court, however, asked the CBI not to arrest Paul during the preliminary enquiry but he can be interrogated and upon completion CBI shall submit a report to the Court. The court’s instruction came during hearing of public interest litigation filed by Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti, a peasants’ rights body.