The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC) examination scam is closing in on PSC Chairman M.R. Baiju, seeking to question him alongside arrested Additional Secretary R. Hari over alleged manipulation of the State Planning Board Chief recruitment examination. Meanwhile, a BJP delegation is scheduled to meet President Droupadi Murmu in New Delhi to demand the dismissal of the entire PSC board.

What the SIT Has Found So Far

The Crime Branch suspects that Baiju's unilateral decisions created the conditions for the irregularities to occur. According to sources, Baiju has been offering reasons to avoid appearing before investigators for a fresh round of questioning.

PSC Secretary Saju George has reportedly told the Crime Branch that Baiju routinely made decisions without consulting other members and deflected blame onto officials whenever controversies arose. George also indicated that while Baiju and Hari took some decisions jointly, the Chairman frequently acted on his own authority.

PSC members have separately told investigators that Baiju alone determined the panel that prepared the examination questions and selected the officials responsible for evaluating answer scripts.

How the Evaluation Was Allegedly Manipulated

The recruitment examination in question was conducted for the post of Chief in the State Planning Board, with 228 candidates appearing for the first paper. However, questions numbered 10 to 18, carrying 58 marks, were left unevaluated for every single candidate.

For 51 candidates, only questions 1 to 9 and 18 to 28 were assessed. For the remaining 177 candidates, only questions 1 to 8 and 18 to 28 were checked. The SIT has found that the evaluation process was allegedly terminated midway through a fake software login.

Arrested Official Denies Role

Hari, who was taken into custody for questioning, has denied any involvement in skipping the evaluation of the 10 questions. He told investigators that the responsibility lay with now-retired Deputy Secretary Satheesh — who has already been arrested — and claimed he was unaware that those questions had been left unchecked. The SIT has not accepted his explanation, and investigators intend to confront Hari and Baiju together to address the contradictions in their accounts.

BJP Escalates to Presidential Level

A three-member Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) delegation is set to meet President Murmu seeking action against the PSC board. The delegation comprises BJP state president and MLA Rajeev Chandrasekhar, along with nominated Rajya Sabha members C. Sadanandan and P.T. Usha.

The move follows a letter written by outgoing Governor Rajendra Arlekar to the President, recommending steps to dismiss the present PSC board in light of the serious allegations surrounding the commission. The governor's intervention adds a constitutional dimension to what had previously been a criminal investigation.

Union Pushes Back, Political Battle Widens

Not everyone is aligned on the question of dissolving the board. The pro-Communist Party of India (Marxist) PSC Employees Union has staged a protest demanding that the PSC be left alone and warning against what it termed 'vindictive action' against the institution.

The rival positions — the BJP seeking dissolution through the President and the ruling CPI(M)-aligned union defending the commission's autonomy — have transformed a criminal scam investigation into a broader political confrontation. The credibility of an institution that lakhs of job aspirants in Kerala depend upon hangs in the balance as the SIT probe moves toward its next critical phase.