The first information report concerns appointments to the post of Fisheries Extension Officer and accuses senior commission figures and officials of manipulating selection procedures to favour particular candidates. The case marks a significant escalation of the Special Investigation Team’s examination of recruitment practices at the constitutional body.
Crucially, the FIR identifies the chairman, members and officials by designation rather than individually naming them. Investigators have not publicly established which members were personally involved. Registration of the case does not establish criminal liability, and the allegations remain subject to investigation and judicial scrutiny.
The complaint alleges that candidates associated with the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies received preferential treatment during recruitment. Investigators are examining whether official positions were misused to influence rankings and appointments, thereby denying opportunities to other eligible applicants.
The FIR alleges criminal breach of trust and corruption. It also refers to officials described as sympathisers of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), but that allegation does not establish involvement by the party itself. No judicial finding has been made concerning the alleged political connections or the recruitment decisions.
Questions arose over the selection after 38 of the 42 appointees were identified as graduates of the fisheries university. The Save University Campaign Committee alleged that candidates with student political affiliations benefited and that university faculty were involved in preparing questions and conducting interviews. Those assertions require independent examination of the recruitment records.
The notification for the fisheries posts was issued in 2020, when M. K. Sakeer chaired the commission. The rank list was published and appointments were made during Baiju’s tenure, an important distinction as investigators seek to establish responsibility for decisions taken at different stages of the process.
The case was initiated following a complaint by Sasikumar, a resident of Nemom. The fisheries recruitment investigation has been transferred to the Crime Branch in Ernakulam, while the wider SIT continues examining alleged irregularities across other examinations.
Separately, investigators arrested commission Additional Secretary R. Hari in Ernakulam on Friday in connection with alleged manipulation of an examination for a senior State Planning Board position. Former Deputy Secretary P. Satheesh had already been arrested and remanded in judicial custody in the same investigation.
The Planning Board case concerns the alleged exclusion of ten questions worth 58 marks from the evaluation process. Investigators are examining whether those questions were deliberately omitted to alter the outcome. Hari and Satheesh were associated with the examination’s evaluation arrangements, but the allegations against them have not been proved in court.
Baiju appeared before Crime Branch investigators on Wednesday and underwent extended questioning. The SIT is assessing his explanation of decisions concerning the Planning Board examination, including the selection of question setters, interview arrangements and evaluation procedures. The chairman has maintained that the commission committed no wrongdoing and attributed identified problems to technical errors by officials.
Investigators have also questioned commission members and are arranging further interviews. Secretary Saju George was scheduled to appear on Saturday, while Examination Controller Bini K. Abraham has been asked to attend on Monday. Notices have been issued to additional commission members as officers seek to reconcile accounts of how recruitment decisions were made.
The Kerala High Court has scrutinised the pace of the investigation, prompting efforts to accelerate questioning and examination of records.
(The article ‘FIR against PSC chairman, members’ appeared first on Free Press Journal.)
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