Evidence destruction, mark manipulation: Prosecution sanction to be sought against seven in University assistant recruitment scam

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Crime Branch has found that senior officials and others destroyed evidence to cover up the 2008 Kerala University assistant recruitment scam. Marks were allegedly entered against the names of members who had not participated in the interview, enabling favoured candidates to secure appointments. The investigation has revealed an alleged conspiracy involving several senior officials.

The Crime Branch will seek government sanction to prosecute seven people, including former Vice-Chancellor Dr M.K. Ramachandran Nair, former Pro-Vice-Chancellor Dr V. Jayaprakash, former Registrar K.A. Hashim and former Syndicate members. The alleged scam was carried out without even constituting an examination board. If the government grants permission, the Crime Branch will file a charge sheet in court. The previous government had sought to close the case, but the court did not accept the decision. The charge sheet was prepared following a further investigation.

The case alleges that the OMR answer sheets from the written examination were destroyed before the interviews were conducted. CPI(M) sympathisers and relatives of senior officials were allegedly moved up the rank list and appointed. The former Syndicate members against whom prosecution sanction will be sought are A.A. Rasheed, B.S. Rajeev, K.A. Andrew and M.P. Russell. B.S. Rajeev, a former CPI(M) leader, will be excluded from prosecution because he has died.

A total of 33,933 candidates took the written examination, which carried 100 marks. After the examination, it became clear that several favoured candidates would not make it onto the rank list. The written examination marks were then adjusted to 75, with 25 marks allotted for the interview. Candidates who had scored well in the written examination were given only two or four marks in the interview, while those who had ranked lower received more than 20 marks. This allegedly enabled the latter candidates to move up the rank list. The answer sheets were subsequently destroyed. The rules stipulate that interview marks must not exceed 15 per cent.

Tabulation on Pro-VC's Laptop

The answer sheets sent to Hyderabad for evaluation included the portions that could identify the candidates. The results were transferred to a CD and handed over to Pro-Vice-Chancellor Jayaprakash, who used his laptop to carry out the tabulation. The answer sheets and the laptop were later destroyed.

The alleged manipulation led to 38 candidates securing temporary appointments. Of the 1,401 candidates on the rank list, 181 were appointed. After the case entered the legal process, some of those appointed left their jobs, while others retired. At present, 130 of the appointees remain in service.