APSC Scam: Gauhati HC Orders Reinstatement of Dismissed Officers

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: The Gauhati High Court has directed the state government to roll back the order regarding dismissal of the officials from service in the APSC cash-for-jobs scam. The reinstatement is supposed to be applicable for the officials who completed their probationary period.

The state government had earlier discharged a number of officers from the ACS, APS and allied services cadre. After their discharge from service, the officers had moved the HC challenging their dismissal order. However, a single-judge bench had refused to provide them relief in the matter. Later, the officials concerned took their appeal to a division bench of the HC.

After several hearings, the division bench awarded them relief in their case against the state government and ordered their re-appointment within 50 days from the date of the order. However, the state government is not barred from initiating departmental proceedings against them, sources said. However, details are awaited as the certified court order has not been made available until filing of this report.

During the hearing, the petitioners’ counsel had maintained  that the dismissal of the officers, implicated in the APSC cash-for-jobs scam, was not done as per procedure.

The state government had dismissed some of the officers appointed after their selection in the CCE 2013 and 2014 of the APSC. There were allegations of wrong-doing, including fudging of marks obtained, fake answer sheets, etc. Several APSC employees were also accused of wrong-doing, including the then chairman of the APSC, Rakesh Paul, who was lodged behind bars for a long time before he was granted bail.

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