CBI books 2 ex-army generals for wrongful promotion of Survey of India candidates
New Delhi, May 19 (IANS) In a major development, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case against two retired Major Generals and two others for allegedly tampering with the Limited Departmental Competitive Examination marks in 2002, for wrongful selection of 44 candidates for promotion.
According to the CBI FIR, accused Major General (retired) M.V. Bhat was then a Brigadier and was posted as the Director of Survey Training Institute, Hyderabad, while Major General (retired) K.R.M.K. Balaji Rao was also a Brigadier and worked with the Institute as the Deputy Surveyor General. The CBI has also named J.K. Rath, who was the Deputy Director and R. Rama Singh was the Establishment and Accounts Officer of the institute.
The CBI had launched an inquiry into the allegation that the examination marks were tampered with, after the complaint was forwarded by the Ministry of Science and Technology in October 2018. The Survey of India employees had alleged malpractices in the compilation of marks for which exam conducted in October 2002 for promotion of Group “D” employees to Group “C”.
According to the FIR, a total of 384 candidates applied for the examination and 298 appeared. The FIR states that in August 2002, the institute constituted an examination board of four officers, with the then Brigadier Bhat as Chairman, then Brigadier Rao as Member Secretary, Rath as STI (Member), and Singh.
The FIR alleged that responsibility to set the papers was of the Chairman, evaluation of answer sheets was to be done by the Chairman or the board members. It said that the examination was conducted at 10 centres across the country and answer sheets were evaluated by the board members in Hyderabad.
The FIR stated that the marks were also compiled by the board, after which 74 employees were promoted from Group D to C. “The compilation of marks was done in the Director’s handwriting and it was signed by him and other members,” it said.
“Based on the inquiry findings, the CBI FIR states that there was wrongful selection of 44 candidates based on the manipulated mark sheets,” the FIR stated.
–IANS
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