Probe paper leak by CBI or HC sitting judge, demands Revanth

Hyderabad: Announcing the postponement of his ongoing 'Haath Se Haath Jodo' padayatra to April 6, TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy on Friday demanded that the government institute a comprehensive judicial inquiry by a High Court judge or by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) question paper leak, as well as the disqualification of IT minister K.T. Rama Rao as a member of the Cabinet owning moral responsibility.

Revanth Reddy claimed that he had decided to postpone his padayatra in order to lead a delegation to New Delhi to lodge complaints with the Central investigating agencies such as the CBI and the ED against the state government on the paper leak and to intensify his fight against the state government by highlighting its failures, particularly on the paper leak issue.

He stated that a delegation of the party senior leaders would visit the national capital and file a complaint with the CBI and the ED and seek a fair investigation into the issue.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Hyderabad police has been formed to probe the question paper leak, but Revanth Reddy stated that he had no faith in its investigation. "The state government had formed a SIT to look into the Tollywood drug case and Miyapur land scam. The SIT investigations into these cases yielded no results, and its inquiry into the paper leak will yield no results as well. The SIT probe is a hogwash by the government to dilute the entire issue. The government is playing with the lives of 50 lakh unemployed youth," Revanth Reddy remarked.

The TPCC president stated that he would participate in a protest programme being held by the Kakatiya University students on March 29, and urged Congress leaders to stage protests across Assembly constituencies on March 27. He stated that the Congress would hold a public meeting with the unemployed youth, with one lakh people expected to attend, in protest of the state government's callous attitude to the paper leak scam.

"The High Court found fault with the appointment of the TSPSC chairman and members. SIT must investigate the TSPSC committee's appointments, as well as the involvement of confidential room in-charge Shankar Laxmi, who is a witness in the case according to the remand diary. I demand that the SIT officials include Laxmi as an accused and investigate her in order to identify key players in the paper leak," he stated. The TPCC additionally demanded that the government include the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act in the existing FIR.