PSC recruitment row: SIT to seek records, will send letter to PSC Secretary

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by IG S. Ajitha Begum, has decided to obtain records and files from the Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC) as part of its investigation into alleged irregularities in examinations and recruitment. The SIT will send a letter to the PSC Secretary requesting the relevant documents.

At a meeting held on Thursday night, the investigation team decided to first examine the recruitment processes for the Kerala Administrative Service (KAS), Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) Special Recruitment, and State Planning Board appointments. The probe will focus on allegations of political interference in question paper preparation, answer sheet evaluation, and interview procedures.

The SIT aims to complete the preliminary inquiry at the earliest and register First Information Reports (FIRs), if required. The Crime Branch has received around 100 complaints related to the alleged irregularities.

The SIT comprises IG S. Ajitha Begum, NRI Cell SP Zachariah Mathew, and Crime Branch headquarters DySP G. Ajay Nath. The investigation is being supervised by Crime Branch chief H. Venkatesh.

During its preliminary assessment, the SIT found that in the KAS preliminary examination, which was attended by around 450,000 candidates, nearly 12,000 answer sheets were reportedly evaluated manually by 21 PSC officials after it was claimed that the OMR scanning machines could not process them. The SIT has reportedly viewed this as a serious irregularity.

The complaints allege offences including cheating, forgery, and criminal conspiracy in recruitment. Since these are offences that carry prison terms ranging from three to seven years, a preliminary inquiry is mandatory before registering a case. As part of the inquiry, the SIT will examine relevant records obtained from the PSC. It has also decided to review all complaints and seek additional documents from the Commission wherever necessary. Candidates can continue to submit complaints, and all complaints received by the government will be forwarded to the SIT for examination.

Progress report every two weeks

According to the order issued by State Police Chief Ravada Chandrasekhar constituting the SIT, the investigation team must submit a progress report to Police Headquarters every two weeks. The order also authorises the Crime Branch chief to assign additional officers to the SIT if required.