Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan refuses CBI probe into PSC scandal

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday refused the Congress-led opposition's demand of a CBI probe into the functioning of affairs at the state Public Service Commission (PSC).

Vijayan was replying to a leave sought for an adjournment motion in the Kerala Assembly, seeking to discuss the issue moved by the opposition.

"The Crime Branch probe which went into the details of the police constable examination report states that three people who were accused of tampering with the PSC examination have been arrested. The Crime Branch has done a clean probe and the government feels that there is no need for a CBI probe. The accused will get no support from any quarters. The High Court is also looking into the need for a CBI probe. The government does not think a CBI probe is needed and now let the High Court decide," said Vijayan.

The Kerala PSC's credibility took a beating after a campus brawl at the Trivandrum University College where a student was stabbed, led to a probe which found discrepancies in the conduct of its examinations.

The victim, Akhil was stabbed by a group whose members were all connected to the CPI-M-affiliated Students Federation of India.

With the media taking this case in a big way and the civil society also joining in, the police have stumbled upon crucial evidence that things were not fair in the PSC recruitment process, with the two prime accused of the stabbing having managed to get top ranks in the police constable examination.

Earlier seeking leave for the motion was Anup Jacob of the Kerala Congress, who said the credibility of the PSC has been dented beyond repair and the only way to restore it was to conduct a CBI probe, as the Commission was the lifeline of lakhs of youths seeking a government job.

"It has been proved that both Shivarenjith and Naseem (the accused) had used mobile phones and a smartwatch to manipulate this particular examination along with people who helped them from outside. Today, these two accused are out on bail, as the police probe team failed to file the chargesheet on time. If there is nothing to hide, why is that a CBI probe is not announced? It will only help to restore the credibility of the PSC," said Jacob.

With Vijayan ruling out a CBI probe, Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala told the Assembly that this is the umpteenth time that the Chief Minister was giving the same reply that everything was fine.

With Vijayan giving a clean chit, PSC Chairman M.K. Sakeer told the media that they went through the Crime Branch report and have decided that it was just three people who manipulated the examination.

"The report says that no other candidate was involved, hence it's not proper to keep the candidates who have cleared the examination and waiting to get their job advice memo to wait any longer," said Sakeer.