The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the irregularities in the examinations conducted by the Kerala Public Service Commission has decided to seek removal of two officials currently posted in the State Planning Board (SPB) after procedural violations have been detected in the conduct of the recruitment exam.

The SIT will communicate to the government on removing Arun J Prathap, Chief (Industry and Infrastructure division), and Sajimon S, Chief (Plan co-ordination division), SPB, from their respective posts after preliminary probe confirmed violation of procedure in valuation. The SIT has already sought departmental action against the camp officer and the supervisor who were in charge of valuation of examination papers.

"Prima facie probe has revealed serious procedural violations. Action has also been sought against two officials who were responsible for the valuation process. A letter will also be sent to the government today regarding removal of two officials from their current posts since violations were confirmed in the conduct of the recruitment examination," Ajeetha Begum, IG, Economic Offence Wing, who heads the SIT, told Onmanorama.

The case pertains to allegations of irregularities in the recruitment examination held on July 13, 2023, which was conducted as a common test for three Planning Board posts — Chief (Industry & Infrastructure), Chief (Perspective Planning Division) and Chief (Plan Co-ordination Division). A total of 228 candidates appeared for the examination. The rank list for the Industry & Infrastructure post was published on May 31, 2025, and the top-ranked candidate, Arun J Prathap, was appointed the following month.

The controversy surfaced after Shyam Krishna, who secured the third rank, obtained a copy of his answer script under the RTI Act and found that answers to Questions 9 to 18 had not been evaluated during the digital On-Screen Marking (OSM) process. A preliminary verification by the PSC confirmed that the same 10 questions had remained unevaluated in the answer scripts of all the 228 candidates.

While rank lists were published and interviews were conducted for two posts -- Chief (Industry & Infrastructure) and Chief (Plan Co-ordination Division) with a payscale of ₹1,23,700 -- ₹1,66,800, the PSC shortlisted just one candidate for the post of Chief (Perspective Planning Division), saying that other candidates didn't meet the required qualifications. This forced the remaining candidates to move the Administrative Tribunal, challenging the decision of the PSC. The case is pending, and no appointment was made to the post.

Ajeetha Begum said that two officials have remained in the post for a year. The three posts had two descriptive exams, each carrying 100 marks. Paper 1 was common for all three exams. The alleged irregularity in valuation was reported in Paper 1. Out of 28 questions,10 questions carrying a total of 58 marks were not evaluated.

The SIT officials said that had these questions been evaluated, the top ranker would have slipped to 20th rank, making others eligible for the post. It was found that the first rank holder didn't answer 6 out of these questions. "We have confirmed the violations. We now need to probe whether these violations were deliberate or were done to favour someone. We will also collect statements from the PSC members who will be witnesses to the case," said Ajeetha Begum.