The APSC scamsters

Wednesday’s Gauhati High Court’s order quashing of a bunch of writ petitions filed by as many as 49 persons who had allegedly obtained jobs of gazetted government officers through fraudulent means in connivance with then Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) Chairman Rakesh Kumar Paul, has once again established the universal truth that frauds and cheats one day or the other get caught and punished. It was open secret that the APSC was steeped in corruption and that Chairman Paul had turned it into a kind of wholesale fish market where the highest bidders got the best fish. The people of Assam must thank Dr Angshumita Gogoi of Namrup who on October 27, 2016 had lodged an FIR with the police in Dibrugarh that one Naba Kanta Patir had contacted her on behalf of Rakesh Paul and asked her Rs 10 lakh for selection as Dental Surgeon through the APSC. She informed to the police, who in turn arrested him red-handed. Since then a lot of water has flowed down the Brahmaputra, and the investigations meticulously conducted by the Dibrugarh Police led to the arrest of a large number of persons. The list of persons arrested included APSC Chairman Rakesh Paul, two notorious APSC members Samedur Rahman and Basanta Kumar Doley (both college teachers), assistant controller of examinations PK Kaibarta, and over 50 persons who had already joined as officers’ in the Assam Civil Service, Assam Police Service, Assam Taxation Service, Assam Transport Service, and Assam Labour Service. While the investigations proved that they were involved in securing jobs by adopting unlawful means in collusion with Rakesh Paul and Co, the government of Assam first suspended the 50-odd officers and then dismissed them from service. These corrupt people petitioned the Gauhati High Court against their dismissal, but the Court quashed their petitions on Wendesday. Rakesh Paul, a small-time lawyer picked by then Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi as APSC chief, not only took huge sums of money from these 50-odd persons, but also organized duplicate answer scripts so that they could be shown as brilliant and selected on merit. While the Gauhati High Court’s order of Wednesday must be hailed by all law-abiding citizens, it should also serve as a warning for the present set of APSC officials. More importantly, a thorough investigation into the selection of officers by the APSC after Rakesh Paul’s tenure still looks like necessary, especially in the last two years. There have been also allegations that persons belonging to ‘General’ categories have been selected with the strength of false or fake certificates showing them as ST, SC, OBC or MOBC.