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Another FIR registered in HPSSC paper leak case, eatery owner booked
The accused, who runs an eatery near HPSSC campus had been named as the main accused in the FIR; his wife, who has also been named as an accused, had been arrested recently
State vigilance and anti-corruption bureau’s special investigation team (SIT) has lodged another first information report (FIR) into the Himachal Pradesh secretariat clerk recruitment exam’s paper leak case.
Sharing details, superintendent of police (SP) vigilance Rahul Nath said Sohan Singh, who runs a dhaba (eatery) near HPSSC campus had been named as the main accused in the FIR. His wife, who has also been named as an accused, had been arrested recently.
Till date, the vigilance has registered six FIRs into paper leak of various exams and arrested 19 people including the HPSSC secretary Jitender Kanwar.
Uma Azad, a former senior superintendent at HPSCC and the kingpin of the racket, her two sons, two peons, a traffic inspector, some candidates and Azad’s agents are among the accused.
More than 1.08 lakh candidates had applied for 82 clerical posts, for which the exam was conducted in September 2022 by the now-disbanded Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission (HPSSC), Hamirpur. The typing skill test was held in November and evaluation was done in December. However, the vigilance had busted the paper leak racket before the final result could be declared.
New staff selection commission on cards
Meanwhile, the Himachal Pradesh government has set the ball rolling for formation of a new Staff Selection Commission. The committee constituted to give recommendation for the formation of the Commission held its first meeting on Saturday at Shimla.
The four-member panel led by retired IAS officer Deepak Sanan has suggested forming a commission on the lines of the Central Staff Selection Commission, New Delhi, emphasising on making the process of conducting examinations fair and transparent as well as economical. It also decided that detailed and in-depth information would be collected on the recruitment processes being followed by various departments and organisations.
It emphasised on such a system, in which the recruitment process can be made simpler and work out the solutions for various issues related to the recruitment process.
A follow-up meeting of the committee is fixed for May 23.
It is worth mentioning that the Himachal Pradesh government had suspended the HPSSC after the paper leak scam was busted in December last year. Till the formation of a new agency, all the ongoing and intended recruitment process have been transferred from HPSSC to the Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (HPPSC), Shimla.
