Case against 123 Rajasthan teachers over recruitment exam irregularities

The Special Operations Group (SOG) of Rajasthan Police on Sunday filed cases against 123 teachers appointed under the last Congress-led Ashok Gehlot government, as they are accused of getting jobs by unfair means in the 2018 and 2022 REET (Rajasthan Eligibility Examination for Teachers).

The Education Department presented a list of the accused to the group following an internal audit that raised questions over anomalies in their selection.

The officials said the accused had used impersonators, presented fake documents and committed other malpractices while being recruited.

A staggering majority of more than 95 percent of the teachers who are being investigated hail from Jalore district, which has been accused in paper leak cases earlier.

During Gehlot government's tenure, REET exams were held in 2018 and then in 2021. The 2021 exam was subsequently cancelled following mass complaints of a paper leak. A new test was held in 2022, which is also now being questioned.

FIRs have been lodged against IPC sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery for purpose of use as a valuable security), 471 (the use of forged document), 120B (criminal conspiracy), and provisions of the Rajasthan Public Examination (Measures for Prevention of Unfair Means in Recruitment) Act, 2022.

SOG Additional Director General V K Singh said all state departments were asked to carry out departmental checks of appointments done in the past five years, especially in the wake of mass paper leak cases.

"Under this, the Education Department had brought before us a list of 123 suspicious appointments. We have filed FIRs against them and will probe each case separately," Singh said.

The investigation is ongoing and further action will be taken based on the findings.