Assam: Ex-APSC chairman sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment in cash-for-jobs case

GUWAHATI — Former Assam Public Service Commission chairman Rakesh Paul was on Monday sentenced to 14 years of imprisonment by a special court in connection with a cash-for-jobs case related to recruitment of agricultural development officers in the state.

‘Two other former APSC members – Basanta Kumar Doley and Samedur Rahman – were awarded 10 years of imprisonment, while 29 others will serve jail sentence of four years, Special Judge Dipankar Thakuria said in his order.

Paul and the two former members were sentenced to rigorous imprisonment of seven years in connection with a case of cheating, another seven years for forgery, and 10 years for cases registered under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

In the case of Paul, the sentence will run consecutively, but with the CrPC stating that a person convicted in such a case can be in prison for a maximum of 14 years, he will serve the sentence for 14 years.

In the case of Doley and Rahman, the sentence will run concurrently and they will be in jail for 10 years.

Paul, along with Doley and Rahman, and other officials were convicted in the case for tampering marks of candidates who had appeared in the ADO recruitment examination.

An aspirant, who had failed to qualify for the test, had registered a complaint and a case was filed, alleging that marks of another candidate had been increased in lieu of financial transactions.

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