Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC) chairman M K Sakeer has said that he would not resign from his post after irregularities were confirmed during the examination for the civil police officer recruitment.
"I have no role in the irregularities. The internal wing of the PSC found the irregularities and recommended the police to file a criminal case and hold a detailed probe," he said.
Students of the University college and Students' Federation of India (SFI) leaders R Shivaranjith, A N Naseem and P P Pranav, had scored top ranks in the PSC rank list. Their names have been struck off from the PSC rank list after it was confirmed that they had committed fraud. Shivaranjith and Naseem are the first and second accused in the stabbing incident at the college in July.
The chairman further said that the probe report did not say if the question paper had been leaked or whether there were any lapses from the part of the PSC officials. However, the probe report said that the accused candidates had received answers on their phones.
"It is not known if the candidates had returned the messages. Only a police probe can ascertain if WhatsApp was used. Plus, the accused are not part of the earlier PSC rank lists.
"CCTV cameras or mobile jammers cannot be fitted at schools where exams are conducted. The Centre and state government have to take steps to stop such high-tech fraud," he added.
"The internal vigilance wing of the PSC that includes the SP and DySP probed the fraud. Everything was in accordance to a police probe expect that the team cannot make arrests. The PSC was not in control of the probe. The controller of examinations does not have any role in this. The PSC wants the truth to be out. That's why hours after the report was out, action was taken," he pointed out.
"It was first alleged that PSC chairman had intervened to get the exam centre changed for the three accused. However, no such thing happened. If something crops up against me during the probe, then I would think about quitting," the chairman added.
PSC rank lists under the scanner
After the irregularities were established, the authorities have decided to check the mobile phones of the first 100 people on eight PSC rank lists. Until the probe is completed, there would no recruitment made from these rank lists. If widespread irregularities were found, then the exam would be cancelled, Sakeer added.
While prime accused in stabbing case Shivaranjith secured the first rank in the KPA 4 Kasaragod battalion rank list, another SFI leader P P Pranav secured the second rank. Naseem had secured the 28th rank in the PSC exam. Seven rank lists of battalions, including this one, have been issued. The rank list of the women civil police officer is yet to be prepared. The phone records of the first 100 of those rank holders too would be checked.
"The three who were found to be guilty have been removed from the list. If the others on the list were found to be innocent, then the list would be restructured," the chairman said.
That one wrong answer
The first and the second rank holders made the same error. After this was noticed, their mobile phone records were collected from the cyber cell. As both of them used the same phone for committing fraud that was registered with the PSC, the probe was made easier.
Shivaranjith had received 96 messages from two phone numbers, while Pranav had for 78 messages from the three numbers. While Shivaranjith received 78.33 marks of the 100-mark written test, Pranav got 78.
Made to eat their own words
The Chief Minister and other CPM leaders, who made tall claims to reject the allegations against the PSC, now find themselves in a spot.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had said that allegations were made with the intention of destroying the PSC.
"The PSC follows an impeccable method of conducting examination. The PSC is being falsely cornered over the stabbing incident at the University College," the CM made the remarks during a meet on protecting the renaissance values on July 18.
"They should think if it was right to malign the name of an organisation on which thousands of people have pinned their hopes," he said.
The CM also said that there was no laxity from the part of the government in the stabbing case. The accused were arrested, he pointed out.
When asked if further probe would be held on PSC irregularities, he had then asked what was there to probe.
The CM also lashed out at the Kerala Students Union (KSU) for holding an agitation over the University incident.
DYFI state president S Sathish and secretary A A Raheem had conducted press meet on July 21, claiming that the attempts were being made to destroy the trust people had in PSC.
KPCC seeks PSC chief’s resignation
Meanwhile, the political affairs committee of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) has demanded removal of the PSC chairman and members. KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran said that he would directly meet Governor P Sathasivam to put forth the demand.
"The allegations raised by the opposition were found to be true by a probe by the PSC wing itself. The Chief Minister owes an apology to the public for maligning the name of the PSC to meet CPM's needs. It is the governor's responsibility to reclaim the lost trust in the PSC," he added.
