The state education department has issued a chargesheet against former secretary of Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) HN Chavda.
The state education department has issued a chargesheet against former secretary of Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) HN Chavda.
He is believed to have been involved in the controversial dummy writer scam, which occurred during March 2008 board examinations. Highly placed sources in the education department have confirmed that Chavda, who is at present the principal of District Institute for Educational Training (DIET), Anand has been served the chargesheet.
Sources in the state education department said, "He (HN Chavda) has been given a departmental chargesheet in connection with the dummy writer scam. Now, he will have to submit his reply in a given time frame after which there will be a departmental inquiry."
Fingers were pointed at Chavda, who was secretary of GSHSEB at the time of the scam, for his alleged involvement in the scam. He was transferred as principal of DIET (Anand) following an inquiry carried out by a single member committee of GSHSEB's deputy chairman RJ Makadia.
It is believed that the chargesheet has been issued to Chavda in context of a Public Interest Litigation that was filed in the Gujarat High Court to know what action was taken by the state government against the officers and teachers involved in the case.
"The government is supposed to file its reply in the high court in November. And it will need to show to the court that the process has been initiated by the department. Apart from his transfer, no action was taken against Chavda in the case," said a source close to the development.
"Chavda has been asked to file his reply to the chargesheet which consists of allegations against him and document proof supporting it," said the source.
In the dummy writer scam, Harsh Kotak and Komal Patel, both children of leading builders Praveen Kotak and Sanjay Patel respectively, were caught red-handed by the chairman of GSHSEB and principal secretary of education department for using writers, other than those assigned and getting help from the examination hall in-charge.
Moreover, it was also found that the both Harsh and Komal's claims of having fractured their hands was a lie. "It was found that Chavda had visited the school where both the students were appearing for their exam. But he did not find any irregularity. Action against those involved were suggested and executed by the board following an inquiry report submitted by R J Makadiya," said the source. "But as Chavda is a senior official with a secretary level designation it was the education department's purview to take action against him," said the source.
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