Probe so far brings up dirt on ex-chief

A number of administrative decisions taken during his tenure, either individually or with commission members, are ‘‘highly suspect’’ and would not stand scrutiny, sources told the Indian Express. Investigators are examining if his decisions show his negligence or point to his culpability in the scam.

Among the decisions under scrutiny is the one on what the qualifying marks should be for the 1999 exam, and the impunity with which MPSC property was tampered to replace original answersheets with doctored ones, and rescanning despite protests of MPSC officials in charge of scanning.

An ACB official said: ‘‘Our investigations show what happened could not have occurred without the knowledge and/or culpability of highest officials.’’

Some anonymous complaints the MPSC first received are believed to have come from insiders. A select group of officials and members decide the qualifying marks yearly and from exam to exam. Sources said that after the decision, the qualifying marks for the 1999 exam was leaked so ‘‘doctoring, rewriting of answersheets and rescanning’’ could be done.

Investigations show the marks in the 398 doctored answersheets were upgraded to exactly meet the qualifying marks. This, however, would not have succeeded unless the answersheets were rescanned.

The computers used apparently suffered a breakdown but officials in-charge assured MPSC members and the chairperson that all data on 1999 answersheets and marks were intact. Yet a rescanning was decided on.

Jailed DSP Baban Kadam’s proximity to Karnik is also under the scanner, especially after investigators found Kadam’s son was recently appointed a tehsildar after clearing an MPSC exam.