The CBI has registered a preliminary enquiry (PE) to look into alleged irregularities in SSC examination. The agency registered a PE after the Central Government referred the SSC exam matter for the probe.
On March 5, the Government had ordered CBI inquiry into the alleged question paper leak. The SSC’s chairman had recommended a CBI inquiry after a week of protests by aspirants in New Delhi since February 27. The aspirants had alleged that one of the tests held on February 21 had been leaked. They demanded a CBI enquiry into the allegations of leak of questions of the Combined Graduate level (Tier-II) Examination 2017 held from February 17 to 22.
The aspirants have been protesting outside the SSC office at CGO complex here since February 27. The SSC conducts examinations for recruitment to lower categories of posts in the central government. SSC CGl 2017 examination began in August last year. The Tier-I examination was held between August 5 to August 24, 2017 in shifts.
Aspirants, however, alleged “mass cheating” in the examination and said the question paper was leaked. They also accused the SSC of blatant corruption in the way it conducts the exams.
They further alleged that the shifts that were held before August 15 were comparatively difficult due to which some of the students moved the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) and the case kept getting delayed thus, delaying the Tier- II exam.
The CAT dismissed the students’ case on grounds that the exam cannot be further delayed and on February 16, one day before Tier-II commenced, the date of the exam was confirmed. Moreover, the additional 40,000 shortlisted students had only a month’s time to prepare for the examination.
On February 21, it was alleged that minutes before the mathematics exams, the entire question paper with answers was on a Facebook page. The students alleged that there was a huge scan in SSC examination demanded probe into the matter.