Jaipur: In a major development with regard to the Rajasthan paper leak case, Governor Kalraj Mishra has ordered suspension of arrested Rajasthan Public Service Commission member Babulal Katara, sources said. It is learnt that Governor Kalraj Mishra ordered the suspension of Mishra under powers conferred by clause (2) of Article 317 of the Constitution of India.
A press release issued by the Raj Bhawan on Friday said that the Governor has suspended Katara on direction (reference) to the Supreme Court by the President with immediate effect on the basis of misconduct. Pertinently, Katara was arrested by the Special Operation Group (SOG) of Rajasthan Police in April 2023 for his alleged involvement in the alleged leak of the Grade-2 teacher exam-2022, which had put the then Ashok Gehlot led Congress government in the dock.
Besides Katara, his nephew Vijay Katara and driver Gopal Singh were also arrested in the case. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had also arrested the suspended RPSC member in the case. Babulal Katara hailing from Dungarpur had taken charge as a member of Rajasthan Public Service Commission on 15 October 2020.
Katara was selected for the post of Statistics Officer, Planning Department of Rajasthan Public Service Commission. Pertinently, in the first session of the 16th Assembly, Rashtriya Loktantrik Party MLA Hanuman Beniwal had also raised the issue and demanded the Bhajan Lal government to dissolve the tainted RPSC. Beniwal claimed that at least five exam papers had leaked in 2021, 10 in 2022 and five in 2023.
The protesting legislators had recently demanded that the Rajasthan paper leak case be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The Bhajanlal Sharma led BJP government has appointed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the case.
