Ex-CM’s role in appointing Rakesh Paul to APSC questioned in ‘cash-for-job’ probe report

NEW DELHI: The role of former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi in appointing Rakesh Paul—first as a member and later as chairman of the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC)— has come under scrutiny in an inquiry commission report. During Paul’s tenure, large-scale irregularities in civil service examinations were uncovered. The one-man Justice (Retd.) BK Sharma Commission, which separately investigated anomalies in the 2013 and 2014 Combined Competitive Examinations (CCE), described Paul’s appointment process as "ill-founded, paving the way for widespread corruption."

Both the reports, which had been previously submitted to the state government, were tabled in the Assembly on Monday. The APSC was embroiled in a cash-for-jobs scam uncovered in 2016, leading to the arrest of nearly 70 people, including Paul and over 50 civil and police officials. Paul was appointed as a member of the APSC in 2008 and became the chairman in 2013, a position he continued to hold till his arrest in 2016.

The report highlighted that during his tenure, he oversaw more than 200 selections, raising concerns about irregularities in other recruitments too. The report revealed that Paul’s appointment was based solely on a personal application he submitted to the CM on September 6, 2008, without any formal selection process or background verification.

Fraudulent claim of legal status

"Astonishingly, it was on the basis of a simple application made by Shri Paul on 06-09-2008 and addressed to the then Chief Minister of Assam, he was recommended for membership of the APSC without any selection process and verifying his antecedents," the report said. It added that Paul "fraudulently represented himself as a Senior Practicing Lawyer of Gauhati High Court (which he was not)".

Barring his application and biodata, no documents to support his credentials were submitted. The former CM endorsed the application with a brief note: "May be considered." The file was processed swiftly, with the proposal reaching the Governor on September 19, 2008, followed by the Chief Minister’s final approval on September 29. His appointment notification was issued the next day, September 30.

"Be it stated here that on perusal of the related criminal case records, it is found that allegedly there was some kind of intimacy between Shri Paul and the then Chief Minister, Assam and both used to share the platform at Satsang Vihar," the Justice (retd) Sharma commission said. The panel said Paul was recommended for chairmanship after five years of his tenure as a member by 'adopting the same device' and added, “…Paul was so recommended by a note dated 18-10-2013 of the then Chief Minister, Assam to the Chief Secretary…" The file was processed for governor's approval in November and December 2013, with the nod given on December 5 and a notification dated December 7 appointed Paul as the APSC chairman.

Violation of prescribed process

A clause in this notification concerning the terms and conditions of his appointment was deleted nine months later, which conferred on Paul the benefit of six years of service as the chairman on completion of his term as member of APSC. The report maintained that Paul made APSC a ‘shop selling jobs’, as he was "emboldened by the manner and method in which he was first inducted as member of the APSC and then was made the chairman". The commission noted that the prescribed procedures were ‘flouted with impunity’ in the process of Paul's appointment.

It also criticised the blatant violation of prescribed procedures, stating that while the CM had the authority to appoint APSC members and the chairman, the proposal should have come from the concerned department secretary. The report emphasised that such appointments "cannot be made in the air" without due process. "Apart from the fact that such a procedure wholesomely lacked the laid down procedure in the Rules of Executive Business, but even if had been followed, cannot be said to be in a desired manner," the report said. "The very inception and for that matter induction of the Chairman by the particular process discussed above itself was ill-founded paving the way for all-round corruption," it added.