Kerala PSC recruitment exam case: CM says PSC members should answer police summons

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The Kerala PSC, populated mostly by political appointees of the previous Left Democratic Front government, has refused to answer the SIT’s summons. File photo: Special Arrangement

Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan on Wednesday (September 16, 2026) said the Chairperson and members of the Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC) had no legal recourse but to cooperate with the Kerala State Police Crime Branch’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating suspected recruitment test fraud for various posts in the Kerala State Planning Board (KSPB). 

The Kerala PSC, populated mostly by political appointees of the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, has refused to answer the SIT’s summons for questioning over serious and possibly wilful lapses in evaluating the answer papers. The PSC members and Chairperson justified their stance by underscoring the constitutional body’s institutional autonomy and hinted that they would challenge the Crime Branch summons in Court. 

As many as 300 job aspirants had appeared for the tests for the chief-level posts. Later, many of them faulted the PSC, accusing its evaluators of overlooking answers to descriptive questions and alleged negligence, wilful or otherwise, in the On-Screen-Marking System. 

Mr. Satheesan noted that the SIT had flagged potential criminal conspiracy behind the supposed lapses. He said the PSC’s credibility was at stake if its members and chairperson refused to face due legal process. He reminded them that no office or organisation was above the law. “If they do not cooperate with the investigative process, the police will take their own legal recourse”, Mr. Satheesan added. 

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