Court slams SIT, directs DGP to form team of 3 IPS officers for probe

There may be pulls and pressures in such cases but the investigation has not been carried out in a legalistic and prudent manner. PANCHKULA ADDITIONAL DISTRICT AND SESSIONS COURT

PANCHKULA : Panchkula additional district and sessions judge Narender Sura on Tuesday ordered the Haryana director general of police (DGP) to constitute a team of three IPS officers to investigate into the Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC) cash-for-job scam, saying the special investigation team (SIT) did not conduct a fair probe.

The scam pertains to appointment of drivers, clerks and nurses against posts advertised by the commission.

The CM flying squad had on April 5 unearthed the racket involving employees of the HSSC and other departments, and brokers who were seeking money from aspirants for selection in government jobs.

The court in its 21-page order said the SIT has displayed its “sheer disinclination” in the matter. The court asked the DGP to ensure proper “supervision, superintendence and control over the new investigating team, which unfortunately was altogether missing before”.

The probe team will submit its report within a period of two months from Tuesday, said the court while listing the case for further hearing on February 20, 2019.

As per the court orders, almost the entire investigation was conducted by assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Adarshdeep Singh, Panchkula, before he was transferred to Jind two months ago.

On July 3, the Haryana Police filed the first chargesheet in the case wherein the SIT stated that the arrest of some other accused is pending, although all the nine accused named in the FIR were nabbed and charged with different sections.

The chargesheet was filed against nine HSSC employees — Puneet Singhodia (hired on contractual basis in IT cell), Rohtash Kumar, Sukhwinder Singh and Anil Kumar (all assistants) and Subhash Chander (superintendent in confidentiality branch) — and Balwan Singh, an employee of HUDA (now Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran), Surender Singh of the irrigation department, Dharmender Singh, a resident of Panchkula, who runs the business of providing manpower, and one Subhash Chand.

However, in the supplementary challan on November 26, the SIT claimed that no incriminating material was found against any other person.

Notably, the supplementary challan had documents which revealed that roll numbers of more than 2,000 candidates were found in the mobile phones seized from the accused. These candidates appeared in examinations conducted for different posts by HSSC or other institutions.

The court observed that it is very strange that no specific conclusion has been drawn by the SIT about the persons and officers, whose names surfaced in the conversation of the accused already arrested. “It is prima facie clear that the investigation has not been conducted on relevant and crucial points and the supplementary report has been submitted in a casual way by simply mentioning that the investigation is complete,” observed the court.

“There may be pulls and pressures in such cases but the investigation has not been carried out in a legalistic and prudent manner,” said the court.