Assam Government: One-man enquiry panel to probe APSC CCE 2014

GUWAHATI: The State Government has constituted a one-man inquiry commission under Justice (Retd) Biplab Kumar Sarma to inquire into the allegations of anomalies and malpractices in conduct of the CCE, 2014 examinations by the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC).

According to an official communiqué, the Commission will inquire into the allegations of anomalies and malpractices in conduct of CCE, 2014; inquire into the entire process of selection of the candidates and role of the chairman and other members of the APSC, including the staff and candidates, and to fix the responsibility/fault/malpractice, if any; inquire into the system followed by the APSC for setting of questions for conducting CCE 2014, including the qualifications, integrity and competence of the question setters and whether the question setters were properly trained and briefed by the APSC; to inquire whether the APSC prepares panel of question setters and the modalities for selection of question setters; suggest improvement in mode of selection and preparation of the panel of dedicated question setters; inquire into the modalities adopted by the APSC for moderation of questions set for CCE 2014 and whether clear distinction and demarcation was there between question setters and moderators; look into incidents in the past where due to ambiguity in answer keys corrective measures had to be taken by the commission, to ascertain the fault on the part of question setters and ways to eradicate any future possibilities of such situations; and inquire into and study the system followed by the APSC for holding the viva-voce/interview of the candidates, making pattern under the existing rules and whether proper transparency was maintained during the viva-voce/interview of the candidates appearing in CCE 2014.

The Commission has been asked to submit its report within six months from today.

Meanwhile, in accordance with a Cabinet decision, the State Government has constituted a five-member committee to examine the report of the Inquiry Commission regarding malpractices in the conduct of CCE 2013 by the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC).

The committee will be headed by Jishnu Barua, Chief Secretary of Assam and Niraj Verma, Principal Secretary, Personnel Department will be the Member Convener. On the other hand, Paban Kumar Barthakur, Additional Chief Secretary, Transformation & Development and Personnel Department and Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta, Director General of Police, Assam will act as members of the committee. Further Nalin Kohli, Additional Advocate General, will give assistance to the committee on legal matters.

The Committee will examine the report and suggest action on whether the entire results of the 2013 civil services examination should be set aside; in case such a recommendation is made, then whether the candidates would be entitled to notice and consequential hearings following the basic principles of natural justice; in view of the differing nature of 'omissions' - ranging from increase of marks, change of answer scripts to complete absence of answer scripts which have come to light, should the action be uniform or graded, depending on the nature of irregularity; and to arrive at a conclusion, the committee can also interact with other stakeholders - retired and serving civil servants, members of the civil society, etc.

The Committee has been asked to submit its report within two months.

Also Read: Assam: Two Irrigation Officers Arrested For Taking Bribe For Flood Damage Renovation

Also Watch: Union Home Minister Amit Shah being welcomed at an Indo-Bangladesh Border Outpost in Mankachar