By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 28 Feb: As had been indicated by the government earlier, it has been decided to recommend judicial supervision by a sitting High Court of the investigations going on into various recruitment scams in the state. The government has kept its promise given to the members of the Uttarakhand Beroagar Sangathan in this regard by recommending judicial supervision of the investigation into the various recruitment scams. It may be recalled that Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had, in his meeting with the members of the Sangh, had agreed to their demand for a judicial inquiry into the recruitment scams.
This move by the Dhami Government also has the potential to take the wind out of the sails of the Congress party, which has been accusing the Dhami Government of trying to protect the accused by avoiding a CBI inquiry. It may be recalled that veteran Congress leader Harish Rawat as well as the PCC Chief Karan Mahra had also in the recent past demanded an inquiry into the rigging of exams by either the CBI or a sitting High Court Judge.
Today, Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Radha Raturi wrote an official letter to the Registrar General of the Uttarakhand High Court in Nainital urging that the Chief Justice nominate a High Court judge under whose close supervision the investigation into various recruitment scams would be conducted.
In her letter, Radha Raturi has pointed out that the Uttarakhand Berozgar Sangh and other organisations have been demanding a CBI inquiry into the rigging of recruitment examinations for various posts conducted in Uttarakhand. She added that, at present, a SIT investigation is underway in most such alleged scams. Many arrests have been made and, in several cases, even the chargesheets have been submitted. It is, however, felt that in view of the demand for a CBI investigation, a High Court judge could be nominated under whose close supervision further investigation into the alleged scams would be conducted. For this, a plea has been made before the Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court through the Registrar General to nominate a High Court judge to supervise the investigation.
It has also been pointed out in the letter that, during the course of investigation into the Gram Panchayat Development Officers’ recruitment scam, 12 accused have been arrested and charge sheets filed against 9 of the accused. In the case of the Graduate level recruitment examination, 43 accused were arrested during the course of investigation, while cash and equipment worth Rs 88.69 lakhs were also recovered. Chargesheets have been submitted against 42 accused, so far, while further action is in progress including action under the Gangster Act against 24 of the accused.
The letter also points out that in the case of Secretariat Guard Recruitment Examination, 1 accused had been arrested. Six accused were remanded as they were already in jail in another case. One of the accused has managed to obtain a stay. In this case, too, chargesheets have already been filed against all.
The letter further points out that the investigation of rigging in other examinations conducted by the Uttarakhand Public Service Commission is being done by the SIT constituted under the chairmanship of the Senior Superintendent of Police in Haridwar district. In the Patwari/Lekhpal Recruitment Written Examination, during the investigation, 12 accused have been arrested and Rs 41.50 lakh cash and mobile, papers, etc., have been recovered. Chargesheets have been filed against 6 accused, so far, while proceedings are in progress against 7 under the Gangster Act. In the case of AE /JE Recruitment Examination, action is still in progress.
