MADURAI: The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) in Madurai registered a case against assistant commissioner (state taxes) of Thiruparankundram assessment circle, deputy superintendent of police (Attur), revenue divisional officer (Kancheepuram), and personal assistant (general) to Coimbatore collector apart from five other persons on charges of cheating to secure advantage in appointments through the TNPSC group I services by availing 20% reservation under the Tamil medium quota, in connivance with Madurai Kamaraj University officials.
According to police sources, a case was booked against Assistant Commissioner (state taxes) S Swapna (34), Personal Assistant (General) to Collector of Coimbatore NA Chanheetha (40), Deputy SP (Attur sub-division) KC Sathish Kumar (40), RDO Kancheepuram M Kalaivani (37), former senior superintendent of MKU R Sathiamoorthi (62), Superintendent SC/ST Cell of Directorate of Distance Education (DDE) of MKU K Purushothaman (59), administrator of Life Educational Trust A Murali (40), programme officer of the Trust R Narayana Prabhu (41) and Coordinator of Sethupathi Institute of Higher Studies A Rajendran.
Sources said that in 2020, the principal secretary to higher education department based on the report of the V-C of MKU, directed to inquire into allegations on the DDE. Meanwhile, the Madras High Court based on a PIL plea, directed the DVAC to investigate into the irregularities committed in conducting examinations and issuance of PSTM (Person Studied in Tamil Medium) certificate by MKU.
The DVAC inquired 22 candidates, who submitted their PSTM certificates issued for their appointment to Group-I services from 2012 to 2019. As many as four of them had completed their course through the DDE. The PSTM certificates issued by them were allegedly not genuine, since their admission records were not found with the directorate. They obtained certificates without following procedures prescribed in the prospectus, police said.
Police sources added that one of the candidates had certification for completing BA Tamil, but had studied in two different colleges. The record of the candidate paying Rs 100 as registration fee was not found in the DDE records of 2012. Moreover, she had passed all 18 subjects in a single sitting (within six months) from her alleged time of admission. No records for the issuance of mark statement, course completion certificate, provisional certificate, PSTM certificate and others were available. She obtained a bogus certificate, allegedly with the connivance of MKU staff, to make it appear that she had studied BA Tamil.