By IANS,
Ranchi : An ex-chairman of the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) along with three of its former members are under the vigilance scanner for alleged irregularities in the appointments of 19 administrative officials.
Governor M.O.H. Farook Wednesday granted permission to lodge an FIR against former JPSC chairman Dileep Prasad and the three others – Radhagovind Nagesh, Shanti Devi and Gopal Singh – for the “wrongful” appointments of the 19 officers, most of whom have been found to be relatives of politicians and ex-JPSC members.
In an examination conducted in 2007-2008, a total of 172 qualified for different posts, including deputy superintendents of police (DSPs), block development officers (BDOs) and others.
The vigilance bureau has initially probed the copies and marks obtained by 37 qualifying candidates and found that 19 were appointed in a wrong manner. These 19 officers include six DSPs, eight BDOs, with the remaining belonging to the state finance services.
“We will soon lodge an FIR in the case. In the preliminary investigation we found that the selection of 19 candidates was done in a wrong way,” said Neyaz Ahmad, director general of the Vigilance Bureau.
The 19 officers are at present posted in different parts of the state and the majority are relatives of politicians and ex-members of the JPSC.
The governor has directed the personnel department to withdraw the officers from the field and issue show cause notices to them on why their services should not be terminated.
One of the BDOs under scanner include Prasant Kumar Layak who was abducted by Maoist rebels in February this year and later released. Layak is a close relative of Pradeep Yadav, who is Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P) legislature party leader.
Mukesh Kumar Mahto, a DSP whose name figures in the list of 19 candidates, is the brother of deputy chief minister and president of the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) Sudesh Mahto.
The governor has directed the vigilance bureau to constitute a special team to complete the investigation within three months.