In the ongoing stalemate in the House over alleged irregularities taken place in publishing civil services result by the JPSC, both the government as well as the Opposition side blinked a bit on Wednesday.
While the fierce Opposition staged a walkout from the Assembly paving a way for at least one-sided proceeding, the Government came out with an Advisory Committee to look into the matter neatly.
When the House met in the afternoon session, Chief Minister Raghubar Das announced about the decision which was clearly aimed to pacify the JMM and JVM members and put the logjam to the rest.
“The recommendations (by the JPSC) have been made as per the guidelines formed by the previous Government. We are ready to correct the anomalies, if any. We have decided to form an Advisory Committee headed by the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Saryu Roy. The Government would take further step based on the recommendations of the committee,” said the Chief Minister in the House.
However, the details about the committee and its members are unclear. It is learnt that senior officials of Personnel Department and law departments may figure in it besides, some members from the Assembly. “The Committee would be of the Government that also wants that members of the Opposition come and join the probe. But the final shape of the Advisory Committee would be decided by the Chief Minister,” said Roy.
However, chances of Opposition parties joining the panel are less considering their reluctance to the earlier offers made by the Government over forming an Assembly Committee to look into the result.
Making their intent clear, the Opposition members boycotted the House in the morning and drove down to Raj Bhawan for presenting a memorandum to Governor Draupadi Murmu. It charged the Government for turning a blind eye to the matter and for brushing the wrongs committed under the carpet. “Their conscience is not clear. They just want to cheat the people,” said JVM MlA Pradeep Yadav.
Meanwhile, hearing a PIl related to fifth Jharkhand Public Service Commission Civil Service Examination filed in the Jharkhand High Court, a division bench of Chief Justice Virender Singh and Justice S Chandrashekhar has asked petitioner P K Siddharth to show the illegality done in the examination on the basis of which the Court can pass any direction to it. The Court also asked the petitioner to explain the public interest involved in his petition so that it could be made to fit in the PIl.
According to Siddharth, the PIl filed included three prayers. Firstly, to withhold the final results, till hearing of the case. Secondly, to appoint a committee under chairmanship of a retired High Court Judge to inquire into the allegations of corruption and nepotism in 5th JPSC main examination results and lastly, to constitute a committee of eminent experts for in-depth review of the structure and systems of JPSC to promote transparency in the commission and suggest measures to plug the loopholes.