The Assam CM was also informed that three additional government employees had been appointed as approvers by the authorities.
Digital Desk: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told the Assam Assembly on Tuesday that a total of 57 state employees had been fired for their suspected participation in "pay for job" scams.
CM Sarma said in a speech to the House during the present budget session of the Assam Legislative Assembly that 57 state employees from 2013, 2015, and 2016 batches had been detained on suspicion of corruption and fired as a result.
The Assam CM was also informed that three additional government employees had been appointed as approvers by the authorities.
In response to a query posed by Bharat Chandra Nath, a Congress MLA, CM Sarma stated in the assembly that "60 candidates who cleared the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) examinations during those years have been taken under inquiry. In the APSC cash-for-job fraud, 57 out of 60 people were arrested and released from their positions.
He further stated that "three other officials become approvers and they are currently under suspension."
The Assam CM stated that the government has not yet accepted the Justice B K Sharma Commission's report on the massive cash-for-jobs scam at the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC), which shocked the state and led to a probe into the matter.
According to CM Sarma, it has been sent to a committee for evaluation in the meantime.
It should be noted that the APSC was involved in widespread cash-for-jobs scams, which resulted in the 2016 arrest of its former Chairman Rakesh Paul, and 57 other civil workers.
In connection with the APSC recruiting scandal, Rakesh Paul's bail request was once more denied in December of last year. In the case involving the Agricultural Development Officer (ADO) bribery that was filed at the Bhangagarh Police Station, Rakesh Paul had requested bail.
Paul's release on bail in connection with three additional cases against him emerged in the meanwhile. According to reports, the judge stated that it was not the appropriate time to approve his bail during the hearing on his bail application.
The fast track court was still hearing arguments in the meanwhile.
Bedanta Bikash Das, one of the two applicants for the position of ADO, acknowledged paying Rakesh Paul, the APSC Chairman at the time, Rs. 50,000 in bribe money to get hired.
Yet, after he was unsuccessful in getting the job, he filed a complaint at the Bhangagarh Police Station against the losing candidate, Mrigen Haloi, and requested that the proper measures be taken against him.
Rakesh Paul's bail request had earlier in September of this year been denied by the special judge's court in connection with the APSC recruiting scandal for the sixth time.
The government was represented by attorney Makhan Phukan, who provided the court with information on the situation. The lower court had been told by the HC to wrap up his trial in six months.
In the case brought by the CID, he was given bail the previous year. The former APSC chairman, Rakesh Pal, was detained in November 2016 and was imprisoned for more than five years.
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