Jharkhand sacks nine officials appointed illegally

RANCHI - The services of nine administrative officers, appointed illegally in Jharkhand through the state public service commission in 2007-08, were terminated Wednesday.

“Jharkhand Governor M.O.H Farook has terminated the services of nine administrative officials appointed illegally and in a wrong way through the second JPSC (Jharkhand Public Service Commission) examinations,” a state government statement said.

They were posted as circle officers and block development officers.

The nine officers whose services were terminated are - Prasant Layak, Vinod Ram, Harishankar Barik, Kanuram Nag, Prakash Kumar, Kumari Geetanjali, Ranish Kumar, Santosh Kumar Chaudhary and Hari Oraon. Some of them are relatives of politicians and former JPSC members.

Some more officers of deputy superintendent of police rank and from other services will be terminated soon, informed sources said.

The services of the nine officers were terminated after an investigation report of the Jharkhand vigilance bureau said they were appointed by increasing their marks in the written examination.

The second JPSC examination was held in 2007-08 and much hue and cry was made over allegations that relatives of politicians and JPSC members were appointed through wrongful means.

The investigation by the vigilance bureau found the charges to be true in the case of 63 candidates where their marks were falsely boosted to show that they had passed the exam.

The vigilance bureau lodged a first information report (FIR) June 12 against 32 people, including former JPSC chairman Dileep Prasad, three former members of the commission and 19 officials.

The personnel department then asked the 19 officials to report for work in Ranchi, but none of them obeyed the orders and are reportedly absconding.