Gauhati High Court Rejects Bail Plea of Sacked APSC Chairman

GUWAHATI: The Gauhati High Court on April 7 rejected the bail plea of former Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) chairman Rakesh Paul.

Notably, the former chairman is the prime accused in the cash-for-job scam which was unearthed in 2016 and Paul was arrested in the month of November for providing jobs in lieu of illegal gratification.

Justice Rumi Kumari Phukan rejected the prayer for bail on the strength of the evidence and the gravity of the case, informed Additional Superintendent of Police Surjeet Singh Panesar, the investigating officer of the first case registered against Paul which also led to the arrest of the former APSC chairman.

It is to be mentioned that in 2016, Chief Minister of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal after taking charges as the CM tried to summoned all the members of the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) and pulled them up over the multiple allegations that the commission sells jobs for cash, however the then chairman, Rakesh Paul, responded by saying that the chief minister had no authority to instruct him or interfere in his work and the power to remove him only vest with the President of India.

Further, it was not long that the CM have to keep numb as a spectator as a dentist identified as Angshumita Gogoi approached the district superintendent of police saying Nabakanta Patir, an assistant engineer with the town and country planning department in Dibrugarh, had asked for Rs 10 lakh for a 'confirmed' selection by the APSC for a government job. Gogoi had failed to secure a job in an earlier attempt through the APSC.

Two days later, the police laid a trap and caught Patir red-handed with the cash. Patir's arrest led to the arrest of Mamud Ali Choudhury, PSO of APSC member Samedur Rahman, in Rangiya on October 30, the chain of arrests finally leading up to Paul.

Earlier, Paul had been serving as a notary in a district court, was made a member of the APSC in 2008 by the Tarun Gogoi-led Congress government. He was elevated as chairman on December 7, 2013.

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