HPSC recruitment scam: HC grants bail to former HCS officer, three others

The bail was granted in cash for job scam relating to recruitment of dental surgeons in Haryana, being conducted by Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC), in 2021

: The Punjab and Haryana high court has granted bail to former HCS officer Anil Nagar and three others in the cash for job scam relating to recruitment of dental surgeons in Haryana, being conducted by Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC), in 2021.

HPSC recruitment scam: HC grants bail to former HCS officer, three others (Getty Images)

Besides Nagar, a 2016-batch officer, who was posted as the HPSC deputy secretary in March 2021, those who were granted bail include Naveen, a government employee, Ashwani Kumar, a data processing company representative and one Pawan Gupta.

The FIR was registered on November 17, 2021 after Naveen Kumar was caught red-handed while accepting ₹20 lakh. Based on his confession and other evidence, the vigilance team arrested Ashwani Kumar and seized ₹ 1.07 crore during a search at his house.

The allegations were in the recruitments of dental surgeons, HCS officers, staff nurses and ANMs. The jobs were ‘sold’ for ₹10 lakh to ₹35 lakh per candidate in a well organised racket involving HPSC officials and the agency involved in exam by the HPSC. The challan by Haryana police was submitted in January 2022.

The petitioners’ counsels had told the court that while Naveen, Ashwani and Anil Dagar had been behind bars for more than a year, Pawan Gupta has been in jail for 6-7 months. None of the petitioners otherwise were involved in any other case and trial is likely to take some time to conclude.

The court observed that the petitioners have been behind bars for a substantial period and otherwise enjoy a “clean record”. The trial has not even commenced and charges are yet to be framed. Hence, further their detention was not “justified”, it said granting bail.