Three Student Bodies seeks Governor’s intervention to withhold MPSC notification, submits Memorandum

A memorandum was submitted to the governor of Manipur by three student bodies of Manipur on August 22, appealing the governor to “withhold the MPSC notification dated 14th August 2020, to re-conduct the Mains exam for the 2016 Manipur Civil Services Combined Competitive Exam (MCSCCE) in the month of October-November 2020 until MPSC had cleaned up its mess and the guilty officers are penalized”.

The letter to the governor on the matter by the Democratic Students’ Alliance Manipur (DESAM), Apunba Ireipakki Maheiroi Sinpanglup (AIMS) and All Naga Students’ Association, Manipur (ANSAM) expressed astonishment with “the MPSC notification No.7/1/2016-MPSC(DR), dated 14th August 2020, to re-conduct the Mains exam for the 2016 Manipur Civil Services Combined Competitive Exam (MCSCCE) in the month of October-November 2020”. The said exam, the joint students’ bodies said was “quashed by the Hon’ble High Court of Manipur citing lapses and irregularities by the MPSC”, pointing out the “heavily incurred an irreparable loss of career, humiliation and trauma of those officers and families and huge loss of public resources”.

Indicating their earlier joint press release, the three student bodies had “welcomed the decision of the High Court of Manipur to quash the result of the MPSC 2016 examination and remove the officers selected through the said exam, and also opined that the guilty candidates/officers should be penalised. But, it also conveyed strongly that no innocent individual must be made to suffer for the fault of others” the letter said, adding that a request to the “State Government to take necessary steps to protect the genuine/innocent employees by filing an appeal or special leave petition before the Hon’ble Supreme Court”.

The letter said, the joint student bodies “appreciate the Government of Manipur for its pro-active decision to file a special leave petition before the Hon’ble Supreme Court. Following which, the Government of Manipur filed a Review Petition in the Hon’ble High Court of Manipur stating the fact that the enquiry committee members constituted by the Hon’ble High Court of Manipur were interested persons to the case, as their children had appeared in the same exam but failed, thus violating the principle of natural justice”.

The following memorandum reads as below:

That, the joint students’ bodies had also demanded that the investigation of the CBI should be completed in a time bound manner and made public so that the people of Manipur is made known of the facts and circumstances who tried to hoodwink the public and that justice is served to all the victims. But as of now the CBI is yet to submit its final report to the Hon’ble High Court of Manipur. Without the completion of the CBI Enquiry, conducting re-examination would be just a namesake, a mockery and akin to swimming in the same muddy waters. It is equally demotivating for serious aspirants, that for no faults of theirs, MPSC kept on conducting multiple examinations with multiple irregularities and lapses with total disregard for the time, energy, blood and sweat of the students and parents of Manipur”.

With the facts that the Government Review pending in the High Court of Manipur and the CBI investigation is yet to be completed, the joint students’ Bodies are taken aback with the move of the MPSC to re-conduct the 2016 MCSCCE Mains Exam. It is equally shocking that the government which had filed a Review Petition in the High Court and is also very much aware about the ongoing CBI enquiry, allowed MPSC to go ahead with the said exam.

DESAM, AIMS and ANSAM as well as the people of Manipur are very much sceptical about the move of the MPSC and the Government of Manipur.

Therefore, we raise the following questions in the interest of the public:

1. Are there any hidden agenda to protect the guilty officers by disregarding the CBI investigation?
2. Why cannot MPSC at least wait until the completion of the CBI enquiry? Is there a power play, which is not visible to the common people of Manipur?
3. With the statements given by the Hon’ble High Court of Manipur regarding the conducts of Manipur Public Service Commission, has MPSC taken up all the necessary corrective measures in order to create trust and confidence to the people of Manipur, to be able to conduct the exams in a fair and transparent manners?

If not, the three students’ bodies demands that MPSC should not be allowed to conduct any examination until & unless all messes created by the  MPSC are solely  cleaned up and guilty officers penalized for bringing disgrace in the system. Re-examination should be conducted only after the final CBI report lay bare the truth. No student and officer in the future should go through  mental trauma and uncertainties due to anomalies of the recruiting agency. It is also imperative to mention that notification vide no. 7/1/2016-MPSC dated August 2020 runs trampling the basic rights of 82 persons in the state who have been selected, trained, appointed and discharged their respective duties for barely 2 years. They are being punished for no apparent crime without accused and tried according to the law of the land.

We also strongly urged the Government of Manipur, that if any innocent are found, even if it is a single person, amongst the unfortunately terminated officers of MCSCCE 2016, his or her career must be protected and accommodated to ensure deliverance of judgement in a fair manner.

We therefore, fervently pray your good guardianship to kindly intervene over the MPSC impasse and withhold the notification No.7/1/2016-MPSC(DR), dated 14th August 2020, to re-conduct the Mains exam for the 2016 Manipur Civil Services Combined Competitive Exam (MCSCCE) in the month of October-November 2020 until anomalies created   intentionally  by the officers  concerned are cleaned up in public domain.  MPSC should also in place all the necessary corrective measures in order before any of such examination is conducted to create trust and confidence to the people of Manipur.