Guwahati, July 29: A special court here on Monday sentenced former Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) chairman Rakesh Kumar Paul, convicted in the agriculture development officer (ADO) recruitment scam in Assam, to 14 years in jail.
Speaking to mediapersons here later, a lawyer informed that the court, while pronouncing the quantum of punishment in the case, sentenced Paul, the prime accused in the scam, to 14 years in prison under Sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Sections 416 and 120B of IPC, with a fine of Rs 2 lakh.
Notably, Paul has already served five and half years in jail in the case (number 159/2017), which was registered at the Bhangagarh police station here in 2017.
Two other main accused in the case – APSC officials, Basanta Kumar Doley and Samedur Rahman – have been sentenced to 10 years in jail respectively with a fine of Rs 50,000.
On the other hand, 29 other accused (candidates) in the recruitment scam have been sentenced to four years in jail with a fine of Rs 10,000.
The Gauhati High Court had, on July 22, convicted Paul, and 31 others, in the recruitment scam involving irregularities in the selection process for ADO posts advertised in 2013.
Candidates for the said posts had allegedly bribed officials to secure the positions they were not eligible for.
Notably, the ADO scam is a part of the APSC cash-for jobs scam (that came to light in the year 2015-16), where candidates had allegedly bribed officials to obtain government positions.
The significant verdict by the court followed a detailed investigation and legal proceedings with 11 persons acquitted for lack of evidence.
Altogether, there were 44 accused in the case, including four members and an employee of the commission, three middlemen and 36 candidates.
It may be mentioned that a one-man inquiry commission of Justice (retired) B. K. Sharma had reported about anomalies and malpractices resorted to for the selection of candidates in exchange of money and other extraneous consideration by the APSC, headed by the then chairman Rakesh Paul, while conducting the combined competitive examination 2013-14.
The Assam government had fast-tracked the probe into the APSC cash-for-jobs scam, following which several officers were detained and interrogated.
Late last year, as many as 21 government officials were placed under suspension as part of investigation into the APSC cash-for-jobs scam.