TSPSC Paper Leak: Telangana HC Refuses To Transfer Case To CBI, Directs SIT To Submit Report On June 5
The Telangana High Court observed that the probe by the SIT was 'somewhat satisfactory' but was not progressing swiftly.
The Telangana High Court on Friday refused to transfer the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) exam paper leak case to the CBI and directed the SIT to submit a report on June 5 on the status of the investigation. The court observed that the probe by the SIT was "somewhat satisfactory" but was not progressing swiftly, IANS reported.
The court was hearing the petition of NSUI leader Venkat Balmoor seeking direction for a CBI probe. The High Court said that it could not intervene to transfer the investigation at this point.
The court also wanted to know how long SIT would take to complete the investigation. It pointed out that even after 1.5 months, the SIT has not completed the investigation.
Advocate General BS Prasad informed the court that the SIT was waiting for the report from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL).
The SIT counsel conveyed to the court that the team has questioned the TSPSC chairman, secretary, and a member.
The court was told that the investigation was under the supervision of the Hyderabad police commissioner.
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The judge wanted to know if SIT questioned all outsourcing employees of TSPSC and how many people benefited from the paper leak.
The court directed SIT to submit a report on June 5 on the progress made in the investigation and adjourned the hearing.
The TSPSC scam came to light on March 12, which led to the arrest of 19 accused and the cancellation of the Group 1 preliminary examination, Assistant Engineers, AEE, and DAO exams.
Praveen Kumar, who worked as an assistant section officer at TSPSC, and Rajashekar Reddy, a network administrator at ATSPSC, allegedly stole question papers of some exams from a computer in a confidential section of the commission and sold them to other accused.
In the previous hearing, the SIT had informed the Telangana High Court that it was making efforts to arrest an accused from New Zealand.
The exam paper leak case created a sensation in Telangana as opposition parties Congress and BJP blamed the BRS government for the leak that affected lakhs of unemployed people in the state.
The SIT has also examined TSPS chairman Janardhan Reddy, secretary Anita Ramchandran, and member B. Linga Reddy.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also probing money laundering charges in the case. Last week, it questioned Praveen Kumar and Rajashekar Reddy.
The ED officials are believed to have questioned the two accused based on the information obtained from Shankara Lakshmi, in charge of the confidential section room at TSPSC. She appeared before the ED on April 11 and was grilled for over 10 hours.
Praveen and Rajasekhar are said to have stolen question papers from various exams conducted by the TSPSC for recruitment in government departments from computers in the confidential section.
(With IANS inputs)
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