The Gauhati High Court has directed the Assam government to reinstate 52 out of 57 dismissed officials from the 2013 and 2014 batches of the civil, police and allied services, whose names were linked to the infamous cash-for-jobs scam involving the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC). In response on Saturday, the state government has announced that it will challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court.
A Division Bench of Justice Kalyan Rai Surana and Justice Malashri Nandi delivered the order on Friday, hearing a batch of writ appeals filed by the dismissed officers. The court directed the state to reinstate those who had completed their probation period within 50 days, while allowing it the option of not assigning them duties for the first 30 days. It also permitted the government to initiate departmental inquiries if necessary.
Crucially, the court ruled that the reinstated officials would not be entitled to salaries or service benefits for the period during which they remained dismissed.
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The dismissed officials had earlier challenged a single-judge verdict that upheld their termination and the appellate bench’s reversal has sparked sharp reactions from the state’s top leadership.
Reacting strongly to the High Court’s decision, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Saturday that the government found the verdict "painful" and would appeal to the Supreme Court at the earliest.
Speaking on the sidelines of an International Day of Yoga event, Sarma said, “The judgment by the division bench is painful and has led to disappointment for us, especially when we are ensuring only merit-based recruitments in the state.”
He added, “I haven’t gone through the full judgment, but based on media reports, it appears unfortunate. We will definitely move the Supreme Court and try until the very last moment to ensure that no one who secured their job through corrupt means is reinstated.”
The cash-for-jobs scandal erupted in 2016, when a police investigation uncovered a wide-reaching recruitment scam involving APSC’s Combined Competitive Examinations (CCE). Over 70 individuals, including former APSC chairman Rakesh Kumar Paul and 57 civil service officers, were arrested in connection with the case.
The accused were alleged to have secured government jobs in exchange for bribes, bypassing the merit-based selection process. Following the investigation, the state government dismissed 57 officials. The latest High Court ruling affects 52 of them, as the remaining five were still on probation or under other forms of scrutiny.
The High Court’s order marks a pivotal turn in the years-long legal and administrative fallout from the scandal. While the court stopped short of exonerating the officials, it ruled that due process had to be followed and that probation-completed officers should be reinstated with limited conditions.
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As the state government prepares to take the matter to the apex court, the case continues to be a touchstone for public service integrity and recruitment transparency in Assam. The outcome in the Supreme Court will likely have far-reaching implications for how similar cases are handled in the future.
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