Bhubaneswar: Opposition Congress and BJP on Saturday demanded an impartial probe into the alleged scam in recruitment of Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE), a charge denied by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
The issue was raised by Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra of Congress during Zero Hour and demanded an impartial probe into the alleged recruitment scam while BJP member Rabi Naik sought a CBI investigation into the entire procedure.
"Despite a stay order by the State Administrative Tribunal, the Chief Minister has distributed appointment letters which is contempt of the tribunal. An impartial probe free from the state government's intervention should be ordered into it and the Chief Minister should be made a party to it," Mishra said.
He raised the issue two days after Patnaik giving clean chit to the AEE recruitment. Patnaik had claimed rules were followed in selection and appointment of AEEs. The chief minister had distributed appointments to 230 successful candidates on March 2.
Demanding a CBI probe into AEE recruitment scam, BJP member Rabi Naik alleged the ruling BJD has given appointment to the kin of the party leaders.
"If there is no irregularity, why the state government fear to hand over the case to CBI," Naik asked dubbing the AEE recruitment process as similar to the VYAPAM scam in Madhya Pradesh.
Government Chief Whip Ananta Das, however, said the tribunal has not passed any such order in the appointment of AEEs. So the question of contempt of court did not arise, Das said adding that the OPSC had got green signal from the SAT to go ahead with the recruitment of AEEs.
Mishra, however, said the matter was challenged in the Odisha Administrative Tribunal following which it directed the Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC) on October, 2015 not to publish the final result of the AEE recruitment examination without its permission.