A few days later, he also showed the door to his elder son and former MP Ajay for holding an “unconstitutional meeting’’ to support his sons on November 17, 2018, in Jind.
The probe, charges
According to information, the ACB probe which included forensic examinations, found out that marks of the candidates were increased and lowered by cutting or overwriting on the answer sheets in the selection process.
The probe also held that while there was no authentication of these cuttings or overwriting by the examiners, in several cases it was found out that double pens or inks were used in the marking.
Significantly enough, while different handwriting in different answer sheets by the same candidates was established in the probe, it was also found out that different parts of questions had been solved on different pages by the “candidates’’. It was also established during the investigation that marks in the answer sheets of several selected candidates were increased with the connivance of the examiners.
Prez nod to prosecute HPSC Chief, members
It may be recalled that prior to filing of the chargesheet against the accused persons, the state government had sought sanction from President of India to prosecute the former HPSC chairman and other HPSC members vide three letters in December, 2022 which was accorded by President Droupadi Murmu.
In September last year, the ACB (or the then known as SVB), in its report submitted to the government – 17 years after the cases of alleged irregularities in the HPSC recruitments in the selection of HCS (executive) and Allied Services examination and professors (college cadre) were registered – had stated the entire examination process of 2001 and 2004 was “vitiated” and the selections were “illegal and arbitrary”. This, thus, also questioned the fate of nearly 186 selected candidates of the 2001 and 2004 batches. The government had subsequently served show-cause notices to some of the officers.
According to information available, the sanction for the prosecution was related to three incidents mentioned in the then SVB First Information Report (FIR) registered in 2005.
While one was registered for the alleged irregularities committed in HCS-2001 and 2004 examinations, another related to misuse of the official position by making illegal gratification in the selection of HCS (executive branch) and other allied services examination and also in the selection of the assistant professors and lecturers in Chaudhary Devi Lal Memorial Engineering College, Sirsa, in which allegedly “ineligible candidates were allegedly selected and eligible, allegedly neglected’’.
