Four government officials booked for obtaining TNPSC appointments using fake quota certificates

Four government officials booked for obtaining  TNPSC appointments using fake quota certificates

The Hindu Bureau

MADURAI  08.10.2024

Four government officials in the ranks of Revenue Divisional Officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police, and Assistant Commissioner, State Taxes, have been booked by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) for having allegedly received appointments under the 20% reservation for Persons Studied Through Tamil Medium (PSTM) using fake certificates from Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU).

The first information report (FIR) filed on October 3 identified the accused as S. Swapna, 34, Assistant Commissioner (State Taxes), Madurai; N.A. Chanheetha, 40, Personal Assistant (General) to District Collector, Coimbatore; K.C. Sathish Kumar, 40, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Attur Sub-Division, Salem; and M. Kalaivani, 37, Revenue Divisional Officer, Kancheepuram, and former DSP.

Two officials of MKU — R. Sathiamoorthi, 62, former Senior Superintendent, and K. Purushothaman, 59, Superintendent, SC/ST Cell and former UG Course Section, Directorate of Distance Education (DDE) — and three other individuals have also been booked for cheating and forgery, and under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

The three individuals have been identified as A. Murali, 40, an administrator, and R. Narayana Prabhu, 41, a programme officer of Life Educational Trust, Theni; and A. Rajendran, co-ordinator of Sethupathi Institute of Higher Studies, Coimbatore.

In October 2020, the Principal Secretary to the Department of Higher Education had ordered the DVAC to conduct an inquiry into certain allegations against the DDE of MKU.

The following month, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court had ordered the DVAC to probe irregularities in the conduct of examinations and the issuance of PSTM certificates by MKU with reference to appointments made by the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) through the combined Civil Services Examination, Group-I.

The probe by DVAC Deputy Superintendent of Police M. Sathyaseelan into 22 candidates revealed that four of them had submitted PSTM certificates issued by MKU to TNPSC for appointments during 2012-2019.

The four Group-I officers, who had studied different undergraduate courses such as BA Tamil, BA History, and B. Com through DDE of MKU, had not paid the admission fee at the time of their admission, which is mandatory. Besides, they had passed all the papers in a single sitting.

The PSTM certificates issued to the four candidates were, therefore, found not to be genuine.