ITANAGAR, Mar 24: The APSSB candidates’ Interim Committee for Justice and Reformation (ICJR) has demanded that the state government make public the findings of the two-member high-power inquiry committee on the APSSB job scam once it is submitted and initiate necessary action, “as per the findings, at the earliest.”
Stating that the committee is not against any individual or organization and is fighting “only against the corrupt and malpractices in the system,” ICJR convener Tadar Kaming Paji in a press statement on Tuesday said the ICJR would “not tolerate” any individual or organization that attempts to interfere with the investigation into the scam.
The committee appealed to the people of the state to “come out voluntarily and support the investigating authority if they have anything to disclose with regard to this infamous job scam.”
It also urged the special investigation cell (SIC) not to succumb to pressure by any individual or organization “as lakhs of unemployed youths and general public are expecting fair investigation into this case.”
The ICJR meanwhile accused the Arunachal Pradesh State Commission for Women (APSCW) of interfering with the investigation process.
It alleged that the APSCW wrote a letter to the SIC, seeking a status report of the case, along with the reason as to
why one of the accused, Mongam Basar, was not fit to be granted bail by the competent court.
“We are surprised that when the matter is already under judicial consideration, why the investigating authority should be answerable to APSCW in the matter of granting bail to accused person. This act of questioning the investigating authority is nothing but an indirect pressure to the investigating authority and it amounts to interference on investigation process,” it said, and urged the APSCW to withdraw the letter and “place it before the competent authority for corrective measures.”
“If the commission was really not satisfied with the facilities provided to accused, then they should have written to the jail authority/concern authority for corrective measures, or else they should have brought it to the notice of the court as the special court, Yupia, has already directed the authority concerned to provide required medical care and facilities to accused Basar,” the committee said.
APSCW seeks to clarify stand
Meanwhile, reacting to posts critical of it on social media, the APSCW clarified that it had received an application from the mother of one of the alleged accused, stating that “her daughter is five months pregnant and has been kept in the jail along with other inmates suffering from various infectious diseases, and that her daughter has not been eating well and requested the APSCW to look into the matter.”
“The commission being the statutory body constituted to improve the status of women and to enquire into unfair practices affecting women and matters connected therewith, visited the district jail with prior permission of the concerned authority,” APSCW Chairperson Radhilu Chai Techi said in a release.
“Under Section 15 (d)(i) of the APSCW Act, 2002, the commission has the authority to inspect or cause to be inspected by the member secretary or any officer of the commission duly authorized by the commission, in that behalf, prisons, police stations, lock ups, sub-jails, rescue homes or other places of custody where women are kept as prisoners or otherwise or shelters for women, other similar places run by the government or any of its agencies receiving aid from the government, hostels intended for women or girls and all such other places wherein unfair practices against women is complaint and cause further inquiry to be made about the treatment that women and girls are subjected to and to report to the government for taking remedial action,” she said.
The APSCW said it sought the status report of the instant case from the SIC SP (Vigilance) “as per the procedure followed by the APSCW on receiving any complaint/application from any party.”
Expressing appreciation for the job done by the SIC in the matter of the APSSB scam, the commission urged the SIC to expedite the investigation in order to deliver justice to the aspiring candidates.
It urged all sections of the society to refrain from posting statements on social media “which can malign the reputation of the APSCW.”
