Indicted PPSC members move HC

Anil Sarin,D S Mahal,Brig (Retd) D S Grewal and Ravinder Kaur’s application will come up for hearing on Thursday. Also,the petition filed by former DGP K P S Gill,seeking directions to the Punjab Vigilance Bureau for expediting the investigation,will come up for resumed hearing the same day,besides the one filed by PPSC Chairman Sanjit Kumar Sinha,demanding a CBI probe into the case.

The Indian Express was first to report the damaging VB report,in which it indicted all members of the commission for “systematic subversion of objectivity” and vitiating the selection process of medical officers.

The selected candidates,meanwhile,have joined hands and sent a representation to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal,taking the plea that the “entire controversy has taken a political angle”. The doctors,whose selection have come under the scanner have joined the New PCMS Doctors’ Association,which has also appointed a committee that will consult and seek legal advice as required.

In an official statement,the association has stated that “the whole controversy has acquired political angle. The selected doctors who first burnt midnight oil to get into medical colleges through the tested process of pre-medical entrance test (PMT) and subsequently spent their precious years in studying medicine are being unnecessarily dragged into controversy”.

A petition seeking directions from the High Court to register a criminal case and immediately suspend members of the commission will also be heard on Thursday. The petition filed by an NGO through its counsel H C Arora has also sought directions to hand over the remaining selection process of the recently held PCS (Executive) to an independent agency.

Capt questions silence of VB on Akali role

Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Capt Amarinder Singh has sought details of the role of senior Akali leaders and ministers in the selection process of doctors by the Punjab Public Service Commission. He lashed out at the Vigilance Bureau for its alleged attempt to shield “some Akali leaders and ministers who influenced the recruitments”. In a statement issued on Wednesday,Amarinder asked why was it (the VB) silent on the role of senior Akali leaders and ministers like Punjab Assembly Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon,Faridkot MP Paramjit Kaur Gulshan,ministers Sewa Singh Sekhwan and Balbir Singh Bath as candidates either linked or related to them were selected,too. He clarified that his stand was misinterpreted as if he supported any of the members in the commission. “My stand is clear from Day One that the entire case must be re-investigated impartially and not closed,” he said.