APSC scam report: Himanta asks Cong MP to defend ex-CM father

Guwahati, Feb 20 (PTI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday asked Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi to come out in public to defend his father and former CM Tarun Gogoi, who has been indicted by a government report in the 'cash-for-job' scam in state civil services recruitment.

During a discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the Governor's speech in the Assam Assembly, Sarma also alleged that the opposition leader did not declare to the Income Tax Department about the expensive gifts he received during his wedding.

The reports of the one-man Justice (retd) BK Sharma Commission, which probed into the anomalies in the conduct of Assam Public Service Commission's (APSC) Combined Competitive Examination (CCE) in 2013 and 2014, were laid in the Assembly on Monday.

"I want Gaurav Gogoi that being the son of Tarun Gogoi, he must defend his father. It is strange that three days have passed since the report came out and accusations were levelled against his father, but there is no statement. These are the warriors of new Assam," Sarma said.

The role of the late former CM Gogoi in appointing the prime accused Rakesh Kumar Paul first as a member and later as chairman of the APSC has come under scrutiny in the report.

Talking about the statement of one witness that Paul had gifted jewellaries to Gaurav in his wedding ceremony, Sarma said: "Anyone can receive gifts at a wedding, no problem in that. It has to be reported to Income Tax.

"I have read his 2014 election affidavit and these jewellaries were not shown there. We all know that gift tax is 30 per cent. Gaurav has not denied taking the gifts in the last three days," the CM said.

Sarma also claimed that after receiving the gifts during the marriage ceremony, a turn of events started in the APSC scandal.

Sarma, who was a powerful minister during the Congress regime, also told the House that he did not want to table the APSC report after going through it as it indicted Late Gogoi.

"I worked 15 years with Tarun Gogoi. I tried not to table the report as it was against him. We know how to respect relations by being a follower of Sanatan dharma. I told this to a few Congress leaders also, but it was the Congress who had been demanding to make the report public," he claimed.

Sarma further said that he will one day present a comparison document between the "dark history" of Congress tenure and BJP's "transparent and clean" system in the recruitment process of the state.

The APSC was embroiled in a 'cash-for-job' scam uncovered in 2016, leading to the arrest of nearly 70 people, including Paul and almost 60 civil and police officials.

Paul was appointed as a member of the APSC in 2008 and became the Chairman in 2013, a position he continued to hold till his arrest in 2016.

The report highlighted that during his tenure, he oversaw more than 200 selections, raising concerns about irregularities in other recruitments too.

It revealed that Paul's appointment was based solely on a personal application he submitted to the then CM Gogoi on September 6, 2008, without any formal selection process or background verification, thus the process was "ill-founded, paving the way for widespread corruption".

The report further maintained that Paul made APSC a "shop selling jobs", as he was "emboldened by the manner and method in which he was first inducted as a member of the APSC and then was made the chairman". PTI TR NN

Source: PTI