Kerala PSC exam evaluation manipulated deliberately, dummy test rules out software glitch

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Crime Branch established through a dummy examination that the irregularities in the Kerala Public Service Commission's Planning Board Chief examination evaluation were not caused by a technical glitch but were deliberate. The accused, Additional Secretary R. Hari and retired Deputy Secretary P. Satheesh, had argued that a software malfunction was responsible. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) examined the On Screen Marking (OSM) software with the assistance of experts from C-DAC and C-DIT. It conducted a dummy examination involving 228 candidates, replicating the Planning Board examination, and scanned and evaluated their answer sheets. The exercise established that the evaluation had been deliberately terminated after the accused logged into the software, before all the questions had been assessed. Server login data became crucial evidence against them.

Hari was the person who logged into the system and terminated the evaluation, while Satheesh was the evaluation camp officer. The accused were aware that the evaluation camp could be concluded only after all answers submitted by the 228 candidates had been evaluated. The Crime Branch said the manipulation was therefore deliberate. It also pointed out that Satheesh, who had served as the camp officer at several evaluation camps, was proficient in using the software.

The accused allegedly acted with the intention of depriving deserving candidates of their ranks and appointments while securing an appointment for an undeserving candidate. In the General Paper I examination, answers to questions 1 to 9 and 18 to 28 were evaluated for 51 candidates. For the remaining 177 candidates, answers to questions 1 to 8 and 18 to 28 were evaluated. Answers to questions 10 to 18, carrying a total of 58 marks, were not evaluated for any candidate. The cyber division of the forensic laboratory will examine whether the evaluation data was also tampered with.

Additional Secretary confessed, says remand report

P. Satheesh (57), who retired as Deputy Secretary in the Examination and Results Wing, is the first accused, while Additional Secretary R. Hari (53) is the second accused. According to the remand report, Hari confessed to the crime before DySP Ajay Nath. His confession statement was recorded, and his Apple iPhone was seized.

The Crime Branch is continuing its investigation to determine whether more people were involved in the alleged manipulation. Hari was remanded to judicial custody by the Vigilance Court until the 13th.

The accused have been booked under Section 316(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Sections 7(c) and 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The report states that the provisions carry a maximum punishment of life imprisonment. The case was registered based on a complaint filed by V.S. Jayalal of Muhamma.