Charge Sheet filed in Kerala University assistant case
It is suspected that the OMR sheets were destroyed by those involved in the scandal
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Seven persons, including Kerala University former vice-chancellor M.K. Ramachandran Nair, have been chargesheeted in the university assistant recruitment scam case.
The others chargesheeted by the Crime Branch are former pro-vice-chancellor V. Jayaprakash, former syndicate members A.A. Rasheed, B.S. Rajeev, M.P. Russel and K. A. Andrews and former registrar K. A. Hashim.
The offences charged against the accused include criminal conspiracy, cheating and tampering with evidence. Rasheed, Rajeev and Russel are CPM leaders.
The Lok Ayukta had ordered the Crime Branch probe into the alleged malpractice that took place during 2005-08.
Decks for filing the chargesheets were cleared recently with Governor P. Sathasivam maintaining that permission was not required to prosecute the former vice-chancellor and the PVC.
The written test for university assistant posts held in 2005 was attended by about 40,000 candidates. The Left-dominated syndicate which assumed office in 2006 initiated steps for the appointment.
A provisional rank list of 2,401 candidates was published and 1,401 among them were called for interview in 2008. A day after the interview, appointment orders were issued to 200 candidates, of which 181 joined service within a couple of days.
After the recruitment became controversial, about 35 candidates left the service citing various reasons.
It was alleged that the candidates were handpicked considering political and personal interests.
The 40,000-odd optical mark reader-based answer sheets could not be traced yet even after searches were conducted at the high security printing press in Hyderabad and the university godown. It is suspected that the OMR sheets were destroyed by those involved in the scandal.