The Crime Branch Special Investigation Team (SIT), which was constituted to probe alleged irregularities in Kerala PSC examinations, on Wednesday registered a case after a preliminary investigation spanning two weeks. The Crime Branch hasn’t named any accused in the FIR.
Senior officials associated with the probe said that the FIR will be submitted to the court and names of the accused will be included as per directions of the court. According to sources, the initial probe has hinted at certain officials, who are being treated as suspects in the case.
“The FIR has been filed as per the complaint received. Names of accused will be added only after court procedure,” an official said.
The SIT led by S Ajeetha Begum, IG, Economic Offences Wing, has sought legal opinion before submitting a preliminary report to the ADGP, Crime Branch, and the State Police Chief.
The case stems from allegations of irregularities in the recruitment examination held on July 13, 2023, which was conducted as a common test for three Planning Board posts – Chief (Industry & Infrastructure), Chief (Perspective Planning Division) and Chief (Plan Co-ordination Division).
A total of 228 candidates appeared for the examination. The rank list for the Industry & Infrastructure post was published on May 31, 2025, and the first-ranked candidate, Arun J Prathap, was appointed the following month.
One of the candidates, Shyamkrishnan, who secured the third rank, obtained a copy of his answer script under the RTI Act and found that answers to Questions 9 to 18 had not been evaluated during the digital On-Screen Marking (OSM) process. A preliminary verification by the PSC confirmed that the same 10 questions had remained unevaluated in the answer scripts of all 228 candidates.
After a row erupted over lapses in the conduct of the examination, the state government sought the legal advice of the Director General of Prosecution, following which it was decided to entrust the probe to the Crime Branch. The SIT team has visited the office of the PSC and scrutinised key documents related to various examinations. PSC’s internal vigilance wing also carried out an investigation following complaints.
The SIT is also looking into complaints related to examinations held for other vacancies. Around 30 complaints have been received so far.
