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Arrest of HPSC official: Opposition accuses govt of diluting probe, Khattar govt rebuts accusation
Accusing the BJP-JJP government in Haryana of trying to cover up the “job scam” in the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC), Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala on Thursday said the government is trying to dilute the investigations
Accusing the BJP-JJP government in Haryana of trying to cover up the “job scam” in the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC), Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala on Thursday said the government is trying to dilute the investigations.
Substantiating his point, the former Haryana minister, at a press conference, said, “While the state vigilance bureau (SVB) in its remand application of November 23 before the court said HPSC deputy secretary Anil Nagar was arrested from the HPSC office with ₹1.07 crore bribe money in the presence of a duty magistrate, the chief minister, in a press briefing on the same day, categorically denied this.”
Haryana govt’s stance
Clarifying the allegations levelled by Surjewala, a Haryana government spokesperson said ₹1.07 crore was originally recovered from the house of accused Ashwani Sharma in Jamalpur village of Jhajjar during a search. The money recovered from Sharma’s house was to be paid to Anil Nagar.
“In order to verify this fact, Sharma, who was in police custody, was made to contact Nagar and was asked by Nagar to hand over the money to him in his office. Nagar was arrested by the investigating team while accepting the bribe amount of Rs. 1.07 crore from Sharma,” the spokesperson said.
“Therefore, doubts being raised by certain sections regarding recovery in the case have no basis. The investigation is proceeding in a fair and impartial manner strictly as per law with a view to successfully prosecute the offenders,” the spokesperson said.
Earlier, Surjewala had said Anil Nagar’s lawyers have already mentioned about non-recovery of any amount. “This means the lawyer and the chief minister are on the same page. This is belying the stated position of the state vigilance bureau,” he said,
The Congress leader said in criminal law, the moment you deny the spot of recovery, the recovery itself comes under serious doubt.
“By implication, the chief minister is giving a free pass. By negating his own vigilance bureau’s stated position about the recovery of bribe money, the chief minister has weakened the SVB’s case against Nagar,” he maintained.
The Congress general secretary also questioned as to why an accused in the case, Jasbir Malik, whose Safedot e-solution did online application work for the HPSC, was not arrested and interrogated.