Rakesh Paul, the former chairman of Assam Public Service Commission (APSC), has been released from prison after being granted bail by the Gauhati High Court in a cash-for-jobs case. He had been arrested more than six years ago on charges of accepting a bribe of ₹50,000 from a candidate to secure his appointment as an agriculture development officer. Paul, who had been in prison since November 2016, is also an accused in four other cases. After his release, Paul said that he had worked on several social and religious causes during his time in jail and did not comment on the ongoing case.
The APSC cash-for-job scam refers to the irregular practices that were allegedly carried out by candidates who appeared in the Combined Competitive Examination (CCE) 2013, with the collusion of the then-chairman of the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC), Rakesh Kumar Paul. The scam came to light in 2016, and several cases were lodged by the police, resulting in the arrest of 60 serving officers from the CCE 2013 batch. Subsequently, the state government dismissed 57 civil servants from the 2013, 2015, and 2016 batches who were arrested in the recruitment scandal.
Three accused officers and three APSC officials turned approvers in the case. In April of the previous year, the Assam cabinet set up a high-level committee to determine the action to be taken in light of the irregularities that occurred during the 2013 exam. The results of the 2013 exam were declared in May 2015.
