An incident of alleged forgery was recently reported in the CSS examination held under the supervision of the Federal Public Service Commission.
The official documents of the Establishment Division, which are available with ProPakistani, clarified that the incident is related to CSS Examination-2022.
During detailed scrutiny of the Answer Books/Sheets of candidates of CE-2022, a matter of forgery in the Answer Books/Sheets of two candidates came to the knowledge of the Secrecy Wing of FPSC.
Subsequently, a detailed inquiry was conducted by two Members of the Commission. It was found that Nadeem Muhammad Khan, Assistant (BS-16) posted in the Secrecy Wing of FPSC was responsible for the criminal act. Resultantly, departmental action was initiated in terms of Civil Servants (Efficiency & Discipline) Rules, 2020 against Nadeem Muhammad Khan, Assistant (BS-16) who was placed under suspension and an inquiry officer was appointed to conduct the disciplinary proceedings.
At the same time, the matter was referred by FPSC to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and got registered FIR No. 02/2024 against the accused in FIA Anti-Corruption Circle. The accused has been already arrested by the FIA.
The following steps further have been taken by FPSC to avoid such eventuality in the future:—
i. Cell phones of all the staff of the Secrecy Wing to be collected outside the Wing along with their bag(s)/ envelopes, etc, and returned to them after the close of office hours and security personnel also deputed to monitor and record all the visitors.
ii. All material going out/coming into the Secrecy Wing to be monitored through a gate pass duly signed by concerned officers i.e. AD/DD or DG (Secrecy).
iii. Periodical vetting and scrutiny of the staff/ officers posted in the Secrecy Wing.
iv. Installation of additional CCTV cameras in the Secrecy Wing to closely monitor activities of staff. In addition to existing procedures, further multiple checks are being developed by the Secrecy Wing at each stage of handling the secret material/used answer books/sheets.
Further, the Establishment Division has brought the matter to the notice of the Prime Minister through a Summary dated 24-01-2024.
The Prime Minister directed that:—
a. A high-level committee headed by the Secretary of the Economic Affairs Division be constituted to probe into the conduct of the previous CSS Examinations as well as the subject breach and furnish recommendations for the secure and foolproof conduct of the CSS Examination in the future.
b. FIA be directed to expedite the criminal proceedings in the matter.