Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan accepted the resignations of the state Public Service Commission Chairman and three of its members today, Wednesday, January 10.
Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) Chairman B Janardhan Reddy and three members, R Satyanarayana, Professor Bandi Linga Reddy, and Karam Ravinder Reddy, resigned in the wake of the controversy surrounding the leak of question papers from the commission's recruitment tests last year.
Accepting their resignations would clear the way for the Congress government, which took office last month, to choose a new chairman for the commission, PTI reports.
A Raj Bhavan press release on Wednesday clarified the governor's acceptance of resignations in light of "misinformation and concerns", stating that there has been no delay.
The governor subsequently passed on the resignations, in accordance with Business Rules, to the state government for circulation of the file, along with the remarks and opinion of the Advocate General, through the chief minister, it said.
The ongoing probe by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) played a critical part in the decision-making process, according to the release.
Given this, the state administration examined the resignations, sought the Advocate General's opinion, and on January 9 sent the file to the governor via the chief minister for acceptance of all four resignations, according to the statement.
"The Governor on January 10th accepted all four resignations without prejudice to the ongoing investigations and any potential future criminal proceedings," it said.
Every precaution has been taken to ensure that the interests of all people in the state, and the unemployed youth in this process, assures Raj Bhavan in the release.
"The entire process of acceptance of resignations was completed in one day with utmost diligence and in adherence to legal procedures," it added.
In 2023, the leak of question papers from TSPSC recruitment tests dominated the news.
The impact of the leak of question papers and the cancellation of several exams was such that it was highlighted as one of the reasons for unemployed youth's disillusionment with the then Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government.