Himachal paper leak: Fresh FIR in marketing supervisor recruitment exam

The then secretary of the erstwhile Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission, Jitender Kanwar, kingpin Uma Azad and her son Nitin Azad, who was among the toppers of the exam, have been named as accused in the case registered on Tuesday.

The special investigation team (SIT) of the state vigilance and anti-corruption bureau has filed a fresh first information report (FIR) after finding proof that the question paper of the marketing supervisor recruitment exam, conducted by now dissolved Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission (HPSSC), had been leaked.

The Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission office in Hamirpur. In February, the government entrusted the responsibility of completing the pending recruitment exams with the Shimla-based Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission. (HT file photo)

The then secretary of the erstwhile HPSSC, Jitender Kanwar, kingpin Uma Azad and her son Nitin Azad, who was among the toppers of the exam, have been named as accused in the case registered on Tuesday.

This is the 11th FIR filed by the SIT into the paper leak of recruitment exams conducted by the Hamirpur-based HPSSC. So far, 25 people have been booked by the SIT since December last year when the racket was busted.

The FIR was registered against the three accused after evidence of paper leak of the marketing supervisor exam held under post code 977 was found, SP, vigilance, central range, Rahul Nath said.

The HPSSC had invited applications for 12 posts of marketing supervisor in the Himachal Pradesh State Agricultural Board in May 2022. More than 2,400 applications were received of which 1,267 were provisionally admitted. The written exam was held on August 28 in which 726 candidates appeared, while 541 candidates were absent.

Forty-one candidates were shortlisted for the last stage of document verification and the final result was declared on December 15.

Nitin Azad had secured 70.50 marks out of 100 in the exam and his name figured at the fifth position in the merit list.

The paper leak racket was busted on December 23, 2022, after a candidate of the junior office assistant (IT) exam filed a complaint with the vigilance bureau.

The probe revealed a bigger racket allegedly being run by Uma Azad and her sons.

Uma Azad was posted in the secrecy branch of the HPSSC, the wing responsible for keeping the question papers confidential before they are sent to exam centres.

The government suspended the HPSSC on December 26 and the SIT was constituted to conduct a probe into the scam.

In February, the government dissolved the HPSSC and entrusted the responsibility of completing the pending recruitment exams with the Shimla-based Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission.