TSPSC paper leak: Congress urges Telangana Governor to use special powers

Hyderabad, March 22 (IANS) The Congress in Telangana on Wednesday urged Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan to exercise her special powers to take action in the question paper leak that has rocked the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC).

A delegation of state Congress leaders led by state chief A. Revanth Reddy met the governor at Raj Bhavan and submitted a memorandum.

The delegation appealed to the Governor to exercise her special powers to dissolve the TSPSC until the investigation in the case is completed.

Revanth Reddy told reporters after the meeting that attempts were being made to shield TSPSC Chairman, Secretary and Section Officer, who should face the probe by the Special Investigation Team (SIT).

He stated that under Article 317 of the Constitution, the Governor has the powers to suspend those in the TSPSC who are involved in the paper leak. "Only then can the probe into the case be transparent," he said.

He said that the Governor told the delegation that she will look into the issue and take necessary action after seeking legal opinion.

Revanth Reddy said the paper leak has made the future of lakhs of unemployed youth uncertain. He reiterated the allegation that those holding top positions in the government were involved in the case.

The Congress leader alleged that employees of IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao's department played a key role in the scam. "We urged the Governor to prosecute KTR as there are allegations that employees of KTR's department have played a key role in this paper leak," he said.

He reiterated the allegations a day before he is to appear before the SIT, which has summoned him to provide information in support of his allegations.

The SIT, which has stepped up the probe with the questioning of nine accused, has served notice to him.

Revanth Reddy had earlier claimed that KTR's PA Tirupati and one of the key accused in the case, Rajasekhara Reddy, were friends. He also claimed that Tirupati helped Rajasekhar Reddy Aget a job in the Telangana State Technological Services (TSTS) on outsourcing basis and later ensured he lands a job in the TSPSC in a key role.

Rajasekhar Reddy is one of the two employees of the TSPSC who have been arrested by the police for question paper leak. A network expert, he allegedly copied question papers of several exams from confidential systems in the Commission and gave the same to Praveen Kumar, who then shared it with some aspirants for money.

The TSPSC had conducted the examination on March 5 for 833 vacancies of Assistant Engineer, Municipal Assistant Engineer, Technical Officer, and Junior Technical Officer in various engineering departments. A total of 55,000 candidates had written the exam.

However, the Commission suspected leakage of the question paper and lodged a complaint with the police.

On March 13, police arrested nine people including two employees of the TSPSC.

Following the arrests, the Commission cancelled the exam and also postponed other exams scheduled to be held later this month.

Amid doubts that the accused may have leaked question papers of some other exams, the Commission also cancelled three other exams including Group I Prelims.

Nearly 2.86 lakh aspirants of Group I posts had appeared in Group-I exam conducted on October 16, 2022.