Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 28 The Crime Branch probing alleged irregularities in examinations conducted and appointments made by the Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC) has issued a notice to its chairman, M R Baiju, asking him to appear for questioning on October 28, sources said on Monday.
The agency also questioned three PSC members at its office here on Monday, officials said.
According to sources, notices have also been issued to two other commission members, asking them to appear for questioning on October 27.
Sources said the decision was taken to speed up the investigation after the Kerala High Court recently criticised the agency for the investigation’s slow pace.
Officials said that notices have been issued to all commission members and that they aim to complete the interrogation within a week.
The state government had constituted a Crime Branch Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe alleged irregularities in a recruitment examination conducted by the PSC for posts in the Kerala State Planning Board.
The probe found that 10 descriptive questions in Economics, carrying a total of 58 marks, had not been assigned to the appropriate evaluators due to errors in the On Screen Marking (OSM) system, leaving the answer sheets unevaluated.
Following a complaint by Shyam Krishna, who had initially secured the third rank, a revaluation was conducted, after which he moved to the first rank.
Arun J Pradeep, who had initially secured the first rank, moved to fifth place after the revaluation, officials said.
The Crime Branch has recently expanded its investigation to cover three other PSC recruitment examinations over suspected irregularities, officials said.
The agency had earlier sought to question PSC members, but they refused to appear, citing the commission’s status as a statutory body.
The Kerala High Court recently criticised both the PSC and the Crime Branch, expressing concern over the probe’s slow progress.
Former Keralam Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar had reportedly written to the President of India recommending the removal of PSC chairman Baiju over alleged irregularities in the recruitment body shortly before demitting office.
(PTI News)
