Calcutta Telegraph: Guwahati: Wednesday,
June 22, 2016.
The Congress
government had appointed Rakesh Kumar Paul as the Assam Public Service
Commission (APSC) chairman ignoring senior officials' caution that Paul's
appointment would go against the provisions of the Constitution.
This came to
light in documents accessed through a Right to Information Act petition filed
by activist Akhil Gogoi. The documents have revealed that under then chief
minister Tarun Gogoi's recommendation, Paul was appointed as APSC chairman
"without specifying any tenure" and without stating any terms and
conditions regarding his appointment when a senior official had pointed out
that fresh appointment of an APSC chairman cannot be made for 11 months.
Paul, then a
member of APSC, had written to Gogoi to appoint him as chairman of the commission
after Geeta Basumatary retired from the post. At the time, there were only 11
months left for Paul's tenure as a member to end.
When Gogoi
recommended Paul's name for the chairman's post, principal secretary of the
state personnel department, Rajiv Kumar Bora, in a note said, "For this
period (11 months) we cannot perhaps issue any fresh notification appointing
him as chairman as under Article 316 (2) of the Constitution, the term of the
office of the chairman is for six years and it cannot be reduced without
amending the Constitution."
Article 316
(2) says a member of a state public service commission shall hold office for a
term of six years from the date on which he enters his office or until he
attains the age of 62 years.
Bora
suggested that since Paul had already served as an APSC member for four years,
appointing him as chairman would extend his term at APSC for six more years,
thus taking the total length of service in the commission to 10 years. He said
holding a constitutional post for such a long tenure by any person "would
not be desirable".
Another
deputy secretary of the government, also in a note, said keeping a person for
10 years in a constitutional position would "not be a healthy sign."
But these suggestions were ignored.
To appoint
Paul, the government ignored applications by people like Joy Chandra Goswami, a
retired IAS officer, whom officials found to be an officer "with vast
administrative experience and a blemish-free service record."
The Gogoi
government also ignored approval of applications of three persons by senior
officials for member posts of the commission.
Akhil said
Paul's appointment was "illegal" and demanded Assam chief minister
Sarbananda Sonowal initiate constitutional measures to remove Paul from the
post.
Referring to
Paul's announcement yesterday that the commission couldn't announce results of
an examination within three hours of viva-voce tests (as Sonowal had earlier
asked), Akhil said it was an insult not only to Sonowal but also to the people
of the state.
In response
to Paul, Sonowal today reiterated before the media what he had told The
Telegraph yesterday.
"It
should not be taken as a directive. I have articulated the concerns of the
people of Assam who want transparency and accountability from the APSC. We want
the credibility of the APSC to remain intact. They (APSC) should look into the
matter," Sonowal said.
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