GUWAHATI, July 29: Former Assam Public Service Commission chairman Rakesh Paul was on Monday sentenced to 14 years of imprisonment by a special court in connection with a cash-for-jobs case related to recruitment of agricultural development officers in the state.
Two other former APSC members – Basanta Kumar Doley and Samedur Rahman – were awarded 10 years of imprisonment, while 29 others will serve jail sentence of four years, Special Judge Dipankar Thakuria said in his order.
Paul and the two former members were sentenced to rigorous imprisonment of seven years in connection with a case of cheating, another seven years for forgery, and 10 years for cases registered under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
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In the case of Paul, the sentence will run consecutively, but with the CrPC stating that a person convicted in such a case can be in prison for a maximum of 14 years, he will serve the sentence for 14 years.
In the case of Doley and Rahman, the sentence will run concurrently and they will be in jail for 10 years.
The case saw 32 out of 44 accused individuals convicted.
Among those found guilty are Paul, Doley, Rahman, and Binata Rynjha, the latter now serving as an approver in the case. Additionally, the court convicted 36 candidates, one APSC employee, and three middlemen involved in the scam.
Conversely, the court had acquitted 11 individuals who were previously implicated in the scandal.
The ADO recruitment scam is part of the larger APSC cash-for-job scandal, in which candidates allegedly bribed officials to secure government positions they were not qualified for.
Paul, a central figure in the scam, orchestrated fraudulent activities related to the ADO recruitment process.
An aspirant, who had failed to qualify for the test, had registered a complaint and a case was filed, alleging that marks of another candidate had been increased in lieu of financial transactions.
First exposed in 2015-16, the APSC scandal involved widespread allegations of candidates manipulating exams through bribery to obtain government jobs. This verdict marks a pivotal moment in the ongoing legal proceedings surrounding the APSC scam, which has unveiled deep-seated irregularities and corruption within the Assam Public Service Commission examinations. (Agencies)
