Thiruvananthapuram: The Crime Branch Special Investigation Team (SIT) is expecting Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC) Chairman M R Baiju to appear for questioning on Tuesday in connection with the alleged malpractice in the Planning Board examination.

Baiju has been directed to appear at the Crime Branch office at 2 pm. The investigating team issued a fresh notice after he failed to turn up for questioning last week.

The Crime Branch suspects that Baiju is staying away from the questioning because a petition challenging the investigation is pending before the Kerala High Court. If he has decided to wait for the court's verdict before appearing, he is unlikely to turn up on Tuesday as well.

The SIT plans to question Baiju alongside PSC Additional Secretary R Hari and former Deputy Secretary P Satheesh, who were arrested earlier in connection with the examination irregularities.

Meanwhile, the Special Vigilance Court has postponed the hearing on the bail applications of Hari and Satheesh to November 16. The decision followed a request by the defence that the court hear the bail pleas only after the High Court rules on the petitions filed by the accused.

The defence made the submission while the court was hearing preliminary arguments on the bail applications. It alleged that the Crime Branch report contained incorrect information regarding the receipt of prosecution sanction and urged the court to examine the matter in detail.
The accused also questioned how they could have manipulated an examination conducted through a computer-based secure testing system.