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THE exposure of the country’s biggest recruitment scam in the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) has revealed a web of corruption that involved not just the state government officials but also institutions in quasi-govern- ment and private sectors.

Since PPSC chairman Ravinder Paul Singh Sidhu’s arrest on March 25, investigators have uncovered how the sectors of banking, income-tax, RBI, judiciary and lawyers were skillfully spun into this web by Sidhu and his pack of touts. And that is not all. Also under cloud are: examiners of three universities who marked the papers, other government officials, at least three chief ministers, including former CM Harcharan Singh Brar who selected Sidhu for the PPSC post, Parkash Singh Badal, under whose reign he flourished, and present CM, Capt Amarinder Singh, who initially backed the crackdown on Sidhu but was later accused of preventing the probe from reaching its logical conclusion.

‘‘If the investigations and the punishments are taken to their logical conclusion, it will cleanse Punjab once and for all. But will the government have the courage of conviction to proceed to the end? If each little comma and fullstop in this case is dealt with, it would not only weed out a major portion of the corrupt elements but would also serve as a deterrent for future malpractices,’’ says a senior police officer.

But trying to weed out the deep rot is an uphill battle. In fact, when the names of VIPs and judges started to disappear from the confessions of the accused touts — under the alleged influence of the State Vigilance Bureau — stories began about how the cover-up would equal the magnitude of the scam itself. Those who paid tens of lakhs of rupees for getting lucrative posts were reportedly told to pay up an equal amount if they did not want to be named in the confessions.

So far, the list of those who have been named in the confessions reads like a who’s who of the state’s administration — chief secretary, four other IAS officers, three sitting High Court judges, four retired HC judges, two HC lawyers including a former deputy advocate general, Markfed officials — it just goes on endlessly.

According to the confessions of Markfed official Randhir Singh Gill, Sidhu’s principal tout, the PSC chairman would only make appointments on VVIPs’ sifarish (which itself cost about Rs 40-50 lakhs) or on payment of huge bribes.

Over 165 batches selected by Sidhu are working in the government. The over 3,000 appointments are now under scrutiny as the government prepares an ordinance which will empower it to removed the ‘‘tainted’’ batches. The present government has also rejected over 600 appointments that were sent by the PPSC for approval.

On the positive side, Amarinder has ensured that those filling 46 of the most important posts to the PCS (Executive) have been removed from service. Former Western and Central Army Commander Lt Gen Surjit Singh is taking over as the new PPSC chairman. Senior officials in the CMO say the ‘‘very best of the IAS and PCS officers will be deployed to the administrative side of the PPSC.’’

During the five years of Badal’s rule, when Sidhu flourished as PPSC chairman, the state’s bureaucracy lay dormant. So did the Vigilance Bureau and the police department. Stepping outside the realm of the government, the banking sector’s role also came under a cloud. But most of the officials of the IndusInd bank and the Punjab and Sindh Bank, where Sidhu had accounts, under fake names, totalling crores of rupees, have been let off the hook.

Ex-Chief’s Arrest Just Tip of Scam

SMRUTI KOPPIKAR
Mumbai

LAST month, the state Anti-Corruption Bureau received about 15 complaints against the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) everyday. Even if we put our entire force to the task, we will not be able to investigate each one fully, says a top official supervising the investigation into the MPSC 1999 exam scam.

The scam, when it first surfaced late June, did not seem so big. Top officials, on receiving anonymous letters of malpractice after results were declared in May 2002, conducted a probe within and concluded that there was undeniable corruption at the highest levels. MPSC acting chairperson P.D. Wani lodged a formal complaint directly with the ACB, rather than the local police station.

In three weeks, nine conspirators were arrested, including former MPSC chairperson S.D. Karnik, chief controller of exams S.G. Sarode, ‘social worker’ Manisha Nichat, and most shockingly DSP attached to State CID Baban Kadam, from whose palatial bungalow in Mumbai and two bank lockers was unearthed Rs 13 lakh in jewellery and records of land purchase outside Mumbai among other things.

This scam could be in the range of Rs 30-50 crore, not a patch on the Punjab one, but this is only the tip of the iceberg. Investigators believe that the maximum play of cash-for-marks or cash-for-jobs happened in the police force and Kadam was a key figure. Available information shows that answersheets of 398 applicants were tampered with to qualify them.

As Kadam, Nichat and others went around ‘‘fixing’’ with applicants, Sarode and computer consultant Farukh Kadge handled the backroom operations in MPSC offices in south Mumbai. Answersheets were changed, complete with the applicant’s roll numbers. The only give-away was the supervisor’s signature which did not match. Applicants allegedly gave between Rs 3 to 5 lakh each to make the qualifying grade, say investigators.

Two days after being arrested on July 14, Karnik resigned as a member of the UPSC. ‘‘I have been falsely implicated in the MPSC scam,’’ says his letter to the UPSC chairperson, but investigators tell a different story. ‘‘We would not have gone to the extent of arresting someone like Karnik — UPSC member, former MPSC chairperson, former vice-chancellor of Mumbai University — without having enough ammunition,’’ says Special Inspector General (ACB) Anil Dhere.

What is the trail? Karnik’s ‘‘administrative decisions’’ including the qualifying mark which only he and a handful of top officials knew, decision to rescan all answersheets on the pretext that some MPSC computers had failed despite the officer-in-charge’s protests, his diaries and a suspicious set of numbers which match those found in diaries of others arrested, a posh south Mumbai apartment worth Rs 1.4 crore. The ACB has now drafted other agencies including the Income Tax office to probe Karnik’s wealth and assets.

While Karnik, after complaining of chest pain, has been admitted to a hospital and others are in judicial custody, the flow of complaints to the ACB continues. They pertain to exams conducted in 1994, 1996 and 1998. While appointments for the 1999 batch have not been made yet, the other batches were appointed long time back.

One Corrupt chairman after Another

NIRMALA GANAPATHY
Patna

THE corridors of the Bihar Public Services Commission (BPSC) seem just a little empty. The quiet is in contrast to the controversies that have dogged the commission for the last 10 years.

Former chairman Dr Ramashray Yadav was suspended a day before he reached superannuation and had to go to the Supreme Court to get the accusations cleared. Present chairman Laxmi Rai was sent to jail for three months in a CBI case while a privilege motion against him was admitted in the Assembly. At the moment, the 11-member panel has only two members including Rai — the result of a ‘‘war of supremacy’’ between the government and the governor over the appointments.

During the hearing of a petition on a BPSC staffer who wasn’t getting his retirement benefits, the Patna HC also observed that the BPSC was ‘‘heading the Punjab and Maharashtra way.’’

In 1999, then Patna District Magistrate Gautam Ghosh questioned the credibility of the BPSC and pointed out discrepancies in the selection process for class III and IV employees. But nothing came out of that. Ex- chairman Yadav was suspended for misbehaving, favouritism, filing of false affidavits and reducing the commission to the status of a private company.

Current chairman Rai, who took over in 1999, already had a criminal case — a 1996 combined engineering examination scandal in which the question papers of about 300 students were allegedly manipulated — against him when he took over. In 2000, the CBI arrested Rai who then spent three months in jail.

After he was released, the vigilance department sent a letter to the chairman saying that they were investigating charges of corruption in the commission. Rai immediately got a HC stay order on the grounds that a constitutional head couldn’t be investigated by state agencies.

Naturally, the controversies have hit the efficiency of the commission. Examinations have been delayed and results postponed. But at the BPSC, nobody is willing to talk. The PRO said he was not authorised to comment and despite repeated attempts, the chairman could not be contacted.

Proved Guilty, But turns MLA

SAMUDRA GUPTA KASHYAP
Guwahati

IT is the same story of corruption once again. One which came to light in May 2000 when some unsuccessful candidates filed a petition in the Gauhati HC alleging gross irregularities in the selection process of the Assam Public Service Commission.

Their allegations that some APSC members took ‘‘huge amounts of money’’ gained credence when the Income-Tax department, during a raid on then APSC chairman Tara Pada Das’ residence in July 2000, recovered over Rs 85 lakh in cash alone.

On May 17, 2000, High Court Judge J.N. Sharma ordered re-examination of the answer scripts of 89 candidates, whose selection for various posts by the APSC had triggered off the controversy. This was followed by the August 10 stay order on the appointment of these candidates after the court found ‘‘gross irregularities’’ in their selection.

But on August 22, a division bench comprising Chief Justice R.S. Mongia and Justice B.B. Deb of the Gauhati HC cleared the 89 appointments. Interestingly, a number of the selected candidates were relatives of influential persons, including some APSC members. These included a sister-in-law of former chairman Das, a son of APSC member Pahel Thapa, a son of another APSC member Pramod Chakravarty, a son-in-law of another member, and even a daughter of the private secretary to Das.

The earlier court probe had reinforced the suspicion that in several cases, additional answer books were attached to the main copies after the exams were over. In some instances, even the handwriting was found to be different. In one case, a selected candidate was found to have secured a total of 61 marks, of which 31 marks were awarded in the additional answer books that did not bear any signature of the authorities. In another instance, a candidate got seven marks for an answer for which only two marks were fixed. Despite this, the division bench ruled that since the APSC was a constitutional body, the court should not interfere in its activities.

Das, who was appointed APSC chef by the previous Congress government, was subsequently removed followed protests by the then AGP-led government. Das then sought a Congress ticket to the Assembly, but Tarun Gogoi turned him down. Nevertheless, Das contested, and won, as an Independent and is now an MLA.

Keeping it warm for comrades

SABYSACHI BANDOPADHYAY
Kolkata

TWO months back, a deputy secretary in the West Bengal Public Service Commission (WBPSC) received a phone call from a Left Front government minister who wanted to know whether the officer could ‘‘push’’ a candidate appearing for the Industrial Development Officers’ examination. The DS requested the minister to speak to the chairman.

Allegations of frequent interventions like this, from ministers and party leaders, do the rounds of the corridors at the PSC office at Mudiali in south Kolkata. Allegations of the commission being a ‘‘rehabilitation centre’’ for ‘‘pliant bureaucrats’’ abound.

In the last 20 years, the four PSC chairpersons have been Rathin Sengupta, Pradyot Sarkar, N. Krishnamurthy and the present incumbent Leena Chakrabarthy — all known to be close to the Marxists. As for the members, the Marxists oblige those who lent their support in some form or other. Take the case of a senior engineer, who was inducted as a member for his role in splitting a statewide agitation by engineers in the ’80s.

There have been several instances of ‘‘questions paper leaks’’. ‘‘The form of corruption here is subtle and not visible on the surface,’’ say one insider. Even during exams, favoured candidates are helped by employees loyal to the CPI(M). ‘‘Members of the coordination committee (CPI(M)’s organisation of government employees) help party candidates scrape through exams at all levels,’’ confided another employee.