Jammu February-09-2023: Special Judge Anticorruption Jammu Tahir Khurshid Raina today framed corruption charges against then CEO Tarsem Lal and 37 others in much publicized 4th class appointment scam in Education Department.
case of the prosecution as discerned from the charge sheet is that some complaints were received by the Vigilance Organization, Jammu (VOJ), that the select list of class 4th employees in Education Department, issued by the CEO, Jammu, was not fair and many deserving candidates stood deprived of their right of selection/appointment on account of the fraud committed by the concerned authorities in the process of selection. A surprise check was made with regard to the alleged bunglings. It was surfaced that out of 90 selected candidates, 15 selected candidates had not filled their application forms before the concerned Zonal Education Officers as prescribed in the advertisement issued by the office of CEO, Jammu. It was also found during the said proceedings that in respect of 13 selected candidates, their academic marks were forged to that of their original marks scored by them, leading to enhancement in their points to ensure their placement in the select list. Further, six (6) illegal selectees were those who were originally given less marks by, Interview Committee and even some of them who were absent in the interview, their interview marks were forged and increased to get them selected and some of those who even did not appear in interview also got finally selected. So, in toto, around 34 candidates out of 90 have got illegally and fraudulently selected by the concerned authorities and the said selectees stand described in the charge sheet as back door selectees, the accused-beneficiaries here in. The joint surprise check has revealed that the selection so made against the 90 class 4th posts in Education Department was unfair, arbitrary and illegal. It was also found that accused CEO, Tarsem Lal and other officials of the department who were associated in the selection process, had abused their official position under a pre-conceived conspiracy hatched by them with the beneficiaries, making these illegal and back door selection/appointments by manipulating the record. On
account of their omissions and commissions the accused persons are found to have committed the offences punishable under sections 5(1)(d) J&K PC Act r/w 5(2) J&K PC Act 2006 and 120-B, 466, 468, 471 RPC. Based on these findings of joint surprise check, a formal case was registered in VOJ and investigation was put into motion.
Special Judge Anticorruption Jammu Tahir Khurshid Raina observed that On my careful scrutiny, this Court found that all the allegations which have been levelled in the charge sheet stand prima facie corroborated by the record. In fact, the level of manipulations alleged to be done by the authorities like, huge increase in the marks to that of the original marks actually scored by the beneficiaries, accepting the application forms beyond the cut-off date and that too not submitted in the relevant office i.e, the office of ZEO concerned as was mandated in the Advertisement Notice and mutilations in the marks shown in the viva voce and figuring of names of those candidates who do not figure in the list of ZEO office concerned, prima facie talk of full complicity of all the accused persons in the commission of crime.
Court after hearing both the sides observed that there is a prima-facie material on record to presume that offences under section 5(1)(d) r/w 5(2), J&K P. C. Act 2006 & Secs. 420, 468, 471 and, 120-B RPC have been established against the aforementioned accused persons. Accordingly, they stand charged for the commission of the said offences. JNF