Guwahati: The Special Court Assam on Monday pronounced sentences of 14 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs two lakh to the former chairman of Assam Public Service Commission Rakesh Paul in a job-for-cash scam in the recruitment of Agriculture Development Officer (ADO).
Two other members of the APSC Basanta Kumar Doley and Samedur Rahman were each given 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and fined up to Rs 2 lakh.
The court also sentenced 29 other accused candidates to four years of imprisonment each, along with fines of up to Rs 10,000. Rakesh Paul was convicted under four different sections.
Earlier, the special court had convicted 29 Agriculture Development Officers (ADOs) in connection with the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) Agriculture Development Officer (ADO) recruitment scam, along with APSC chairman Rakesh Kumar Paul, members Basanta Kumar Doley, and Samedur Rahman. This was the first time in Assam's history that such a large number of officers had been sentenced to prison on the same day for corruption while serving as public servants.
The case was lodged against the fraudulent ADO recruitment process conducted in 2013 during Rakesh Paul's tenure as Chairman of the APSC. The accused had obtained their positions in exchange for bribes. Out of the 44 individuals charged, the court earlier acquitted 11 due to insufficient documentary evidence. The acquitted individuals include Vikash Pincha, Kunal Das, and Kaushik Kalita, who served as middlemen, as well as Syed Musharraf Hussain (APSC employee), Beauty Gogoi, Phiruj Moran, Jyotiban Dutta, Saijali Johori, Dhritiman Roy, Mousumi Saikia, and Boichitra Hakmaosa, who were candidates.
The special court judge, Deepak Thakuria, has mandated judicial custody for all 29 convicted officials. The defendants, who once held esteemed positions in the state's agricultural development sector, broke down in tears upon hearing the verdict. The convicted officials are Mrigen Haloi, Phanindra Saikia, Pranab Bharali, Jyotirekha Das, Kobin Killingpi, Preeti Das, Alok Kumar Mali, Biswajit Doley, Kesabananda Borah, Bornali Medhi, Bipul Kumar Deka, Sweety Borah Hazarika, Satyanath Deka, Kamal Krishna Das, Rituraj Sonowal, Anjan Loying, Priyanka Bora, Rosheshwar Timung, Sanghamitra Shyam, Bidyut Das, Alpona Deori, Jayanta Jeet Das, Dipankar Borik, Raushan Roufi, Pranjal Barman, Shakeel Aziz Hoque, Kalyan Sharma, and Mofida Begum Saikia. They were convicted under Bhangagarh P.S. Case No. 159/2017, which pertains to charges under Section 120(B)/420/468 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) regarding irregularities in the ADO Examination conducted by the APSC. Additionally, Rakesh Kumar Paul, Basanta Kumar Doley, and Samedur Rahman were also convicted under Section 7/13(1)(a)(d)(iii)/13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
