From ‘sudden’ change in exam schedule to flawed centre selection, Rajasthan police flag ‘violations’ that led to 2021 paper leak

The report, which The Indian Express has accessed, comes at a time when the state government has decided to suspend 11 trainee sub-inspectors previously arrested for allegedly benefitting from the paper leak.

In its report, the SOG headed by Additional Director General of Police (ATS and SOG) Vijay Singh claims that the “gangs” behind the peak leak used Bluetooth to leak the paper in advance, violating “the purity and sanctity of this public recruitment exam”. The report also recommends cancellation of the 2021 exams and holding it again, suggesting that candidates from that examination should be given an additional opportunity to take the exam with “age relaxations”.

Here’s what it says:  

• The report points to flaws in the selection of exam centres, claiming that while it was previously decided to hold the exams in government schools and institutions, with government officials as invigilators, private institutions and private invigilators were eventually chosen. “Hence, a non-transparent process was adopted for selecting the centre superintendent,” the report says, adding that it was also “very easy to get selected as an examination centre and get duty at the desired centre by influencing the examination cell people”.
• “Thus, RPSC is completely responsible for this chaos. They have no control in conducting the examination,” the report says.
•  According to the report, which the RPSC had norms for internet shutdown, biometric verification, jammers, CCTV camera monitoring and videography at examination centres, “there was no such monitoring and security on the day of the examination”.
• The report also slammed the “sudden” change in the exam dates, saying that while the RPSC had initially decided to hold the recruitment test on one day – September 4, 2021 – this was suddenly changed to three days (September 13, 14 and 15). This “increased the chances of paper leak,” the report said. “Similarly, the chances of dummy candidates appearing in the exam increased”.
• Candidates were allegedly allowed to enter the exam hall up to 10 minutes past the start of the exams. “According to the RPSC guidelines, the arrival time of candidates at the examination centre was 9:00 AM in the first shift and 2:00 PM in the second shift. This was suddenly changed and candidates were allowed to reach till 10 minutes after the commencement of the examination, as a result of which the candidates who used unfair means in this case got the opportunity to read the solved paper,” the report says.
• The RPSC also failed to provide information under the Right to Information Act about the process undertaken during the 2021 recruitment exam despite several applications from candidates, the report says. “On receiving the information, the applicants could have contributed to the fair action by drawing the attention of RPSC towards the deficiencies,” it says, recommending cancellation of the exam.

Meanwhile, the state government has suspended 11 of the 45 SIs who were arrested for allegedly benefitting from the paper leak. The move comes after the state government’s decision to send SIs selected through the 2021 recruitment process for police training faced a legal challenge in the Rajasthan High Court.

The suspended SIs are learnt to be under the Jaipur, Udaipur and Kota police ranges.

“These SIs were arrested and have spent more than 48 hours in custody. As per the Rajasthan Civil Service (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1958, any police official who spends more than 48 hours in custody should be suspended. These orders should have been issued earlier. Now, we have suspended them,” Rajasthan Director General of Police U R Sahoo told The Indian Express.

Significantly, 850 candidates were selected from the 2021 recruitment process. The exam, which was conducted under the former Congress government, became a major issue in the run-up to the 2023 Assembly polls, with then opposition Bharatiya Janata Party promising a Special Investigation Team.

Despite this, the state’s BJP government has not yet declared the 2021 exam null and void.

On December 26, the Rajasthan High Court ordered the recruitment process of the 850 officers to be paused. The court will now hear the case on January 6.