The CBI has booked a former Joint Secretary of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for facilitating recruitment of three persons on forged documents. The alleged beneficiaries have also been arraigned.
The accused have been identified as then Joint Secretary S.P. Rana, Assistant Secretaries Babita Rani and Shikha Tomar and Assistant Programmer Ruchin Tomar. In December 2019, the CBI instituted a preliminary inquiry into the allegations against them.
According to the CBI, Ms. Rani and Mr. Tomar – both from the Jat community – were recruited under the OBC category between 2012 and 2014, in violation of the rules. Mr. Rana also allegedly helped Ms. Tomar, the daughter-in-law of his brother, get the job in 2012 on the basis of fake experience certificate from a Gurugram-based company.
Dismissed from service
The FIR alleges that Mr. Rana, who was then holding the charge of Joint Secretary (Admin & Legal) in the CBSE, made repeated recommendations while processing the application of Ms. Rani in 2012. The selection was made under his supervision. He also allowed Ms. Rani's request for not verifying her credentials. The CBSE dismissed her from service in January.
The CBSE had also issued a charge sheet against Ms. Tomar for major penalty proceedings. She has not been reporting to duty and is not responding to the memorandums issued by the Board.
It is alleged that Mr. Tomar was appointed in 2014 on a forged engineering degree. He did not submit original mark-sheets to the CBSE despite repeated reminders and was terminated in January 2019.
Besides, the CBI has alleged that Mr. Rana had allowed overpayment of ₹26.92 lakh to KPMG for its outsourced services for the processing of applications seeking affiliation/upgrade of schools. During the inquiry, the CBSE was not able to provide the original file for the award of contract to KPMG.
Mr. Rana was suspended in May 2017 for alleged irregularities and manipulations in the recruitment process. He retired in July 7, 2017, while under suspension.