Itanagar, Oct 29: The Arunachal Pradesh government decided to remove and suspend four members of Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) on Thursday, two months after the reported leak of recruitment exam papers, officials said.
The state government following the instructions of the Chief Minister Pema Khandu handed over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which also registered a case and a team of central probe agency headed by a joint director is now in Itanagar.
After the cabinet meeting, chaired by the Chief Minister Khandu, the govt handed over the recommendation of the council of ministers to Governor Brig (Dr) B.D. Mishra (Retd) to invoke provisions of Article 317 to remove the four members of the APPSC, which had conducted the examination for the post of Assistant Engineer (Civil).
The Chief Minister said that the state government is determined to take the process of cleansing of APPSC to its logical conclusion in the larger interests of the people and the state.
The state government, from day one, has made its intentions very clear for overhauling the entire APPSC and conducting the examinations for various posts in free, fair and transparent manner, Khandu said.
So far, ten persons, including APPSC deputy secretary-cum-deputy controller of examination, have been arrested by the state police who were allegedly involved in the paper leakage case.
Chairman of the Commission Nipo Nabam had resigned on October 14 “owning moral responsibility for the omissions and commissions of the officer of the commission” who was responsible for ensuring secrecy and prevention of leakage of question papers.
Many organisations, including the Anti-Corruption Foundation, have been demanding the suspension of the APPSC Chairman, secretary and other officials for the reported leak of the question paper ahead of the recent examination for the post of Assistant Engineer (Civil).
They have also demanded a “transparent” probe into the leak.
On August 28, a candidate for the examination lodged an FIR at the Itanagar police station, complaining that the question papers for the APPSC exam held on August 26 and 27 were leaked.
