Assam: Ex-Chief Of APSC Released After 6 Years Of Jail

GUWAHATI: Rakesh Paul, the former head of the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC), who was detained in connection with the cash-for-jobs scandal more than six years ago, was released from prison on Tuesday, four days after the Gauhati high court granted him bail.

"I approve of the Supreme Court's ruling. While the matter is still under investigation, I won't comment”, after his release, Paul told reporters. “I had a fantastic experience in jail and worked on various social and religious causes”, he continued. 

In a case brought by the Bhangagarh police in Guwahati alleging that Paul accepted a bribe of 50,000 rupees from a candidate named Bedanta Bikash Das in order to provide employment as an agriculture development officer, Paul was given bail. Das filed a complaint against Paul and another candidate who was hired after he was unsuccessful in getting the job, and he sought action against them. Paul has been imprisoned since his arrest in November 2016. 

Additionally, he has been identified as a defendant in four other lawsuits. Many successful candidates, including Assam Civil Service (ACS) and Assam Police Service (APS) officers who appeared in the Combined Competitive Examination in 2013, were alleged to have engaged in irregular practises in concert with Paul, the then-APSC chairman, which led to the discovery of the APSC cash-for-job scam in 2016. Police filed many cases in response to the revelations and detained 60 active officers from the October 2013 cohort. 

In April of last year, the Assam cabinet decided to set up a high-level committee to decide on the course of action to be taken in light of the irregularities in the 2013 exam. Last week, the state government informed the assembly that 57 civil servants from the 2013, 2015, and 2016 batches who were arrested in the recruitment scandal have been fired from their jobs, while three accused officers and three APSC officials have turned approvers. In May 2015, the results of the 2013 exam were released.

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