State’s reply sought on PIL for CBI probe

The Allahabad high court on Monday asked state govt to file a counter-affidavit within four weeks on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a CBI probe into selections by the UP Public Services Commission (UPPSC) during the tenure of its former chairman Dr Anil Kumar Yadav.

The court also ordered to club this PIL with another one on the issue . The bench comprising justice Dilip Gupta and justice Mukhtar Ahmad passed the order while hearing a PIL filed by former Punjab DGP Julio F Ribeiro and several others. It was alleged in the PIL that during the tenure of Yadav a particular caste was favoured in the selection process and there was huge discrimination by the commission.

The petitioners had alleged manipulations in the interview marks of candidates selected by the UPPSC to illegally benefit aspirants belonging to a particular caste. The petitioners relied on a list of marks of candidates, appearing in UP Civil Services 2013 examination, showing that the candidates of one caste were given more marks than others. Besides Ribeiro, the petitioners include SAT Rizvi (ex-secretary, union government), IC Dwivedi (former DGP), Prakash Singh (former DG BSF and DGP of UP), SN Shukla (ex-principal secretary, UP govt) and HC Pande (VC Emeritus, BIT, Ranchi)

Earlier, the petitioners had challenged the appointment of Yadavas chairman of UPPSC in a PIL and the high court had directed the state government to remove him from the post, declaring his appointment as ultra vires, arbitrary and in breach of Article 316(1) of the Constitution.