THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Bouncing back to life after close to two decades, the assistant exam case in 2008 at the Kerala University has come alive with the crime branch set to file charges of misuse of official position and corruption against the then-top officials of the university.
While the completed case file has been handed over to crime branch ADGP H Venkatesh, officials informed that they have received an ‘unofficial’ nod to move forward with the prosecution of officials, including the-then vice chancellor. A formal decision regarding the same will be taken this week, officials added.
Upon receiving this, former VC M K Ramachandran Nair will be named as the first accused, while the-then pro VC V Jayaprakash, ex-registrar K A Hashim, and syndicate members A A Rasheed, B S Rajeev (late), K A Andrew and M P Russell will also be named in the accused list involving seven persons.
The aspirants who got jobs through the written test and interview under scrutiny will only be named as suspects for the time being, and any action will be initiated after court directions, police sources said.
“Even though there is no direct evidence proving any bribes were given, their backgrounds- VC’s acquaintance, pro-VC’s neighbour, children of university officials, employees association leaders- give a solid base for suspicion,” a top official said.
“It was found that the final results were sent to the university as both hard and soft copies, and were tabulated in the vice chancellor’s laptop. However, the VC claimed that he lost the laptop while travelling, paid the equivalent amount, thereby destroying the evidence,” another senior police official said.
The crime branch has found a series of procedural lapses, or rather compromises, made for the appointments.
A selection board, which was supposed to be formed before the written exam, was only formed just before the interview.
The written exam’s score was proportionately scaled down from 100 to 75, and the interview’s marks were awarded out of 25.
“According to university rules, the interview’s marks can only hold up to 20% weightage of the written exam; but here it was 33.33%. Setting everything right to favour ‘their’ candidates, top scorers of the written test got two or three marks in the interview, while those who underperformed in the former were awarded up to 23 marks,” officials added.
One of the aspirants also serves as an IAS officer in the state currently.
The University Assistant Grade 2 exam took place on July 3, 2005, the results of which were announced by the end of the year.
‘Former VC involved’
Officials said they received an ‘unofficial’ nod to move forward with the prosecution of officials, including the-then vice chancellor
The aspirants who got jobs through the written test and interview under scrutiny will only be named as suspects for the time being
