Past HPSSC recruitment examinations under scrutiny in JOA IT paper leak case

SHIMLA: The vigilance department probing the JOA (IT) paper leak case has received several complaints of irregularities in recruitment examinations conducted by the Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission (HPSSC), officials said.

As per preliminary enquiry, as many as 10 examinations held in the past by the commission are under scanner, they said. Complaints have been received through both online and offline modes and enquiries have been initiated to further verify the alleged malpractices in about 20 recruitment examinations held in the past, the vigilance department officials said.

Also Read | State government suspends HPSSC with immediate effect over paper leak incidents

Vigilance sleuths had arrested eight persons, including a senior assistant of HPSSC, Uma Azad, her sons Nikhil Azad and Nitin Azad, tout Sanjeev, his brother Shashi Pal and Neeraj, Ajay Sharma and Tanu Sharma in connection with the JOA (IT) paper leak case in December last year.

Acting on a complaint that a tout was providing question papers for Rs 2.5 lakh, the vigilance team laid a trap and caught the accused red handed while accepting money and the solved question paper on December 23. Besides, a laptop, documents including papers were recovered, according to officials. Following the paper leak, the government had suspended the functioning of the HPSSC and postponed all the examinations to be held in the near future.

It had said that it appears that the commission has not discharged its duties and responsibilities objectively and its credibility has been eroded. A Special Investigation team (SIT) headed by a DIG-rank officer was constituted to conduct enquiry into the alleged malpractices in the past exams conducted by the HPSSC. The employees of the commission are under scanner as question papers of junior auditor and computer operator exams were also recovered from Azad's house, the officials said.