Guwahati, July 30 (IANS): A special court here on Monday sentenced former Assam Public Service Commission Chairman Rakesh Paul to a 14-year jail term in the APSC cash-for-job scam.

Also slapping a Rs 2 lakh fine on Paul, the court sentenced former APSC members Basanta Kumar Doley and Samedur Rahman to 10 years in jail.

The 29 candidates who paid money to get Agricultural Development Officer (ADO) jobs in 2014 have been sentenced to four years of imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000.

The court, on July 22, after completion of the hearing of the case, convicted 32 people, including the APSC’s former Chairman Paul, two of its former members, and 29 candidates but had not pronounced the quantum of the sentence of the convicted persons.

Special Judge Dipankar Thakuria on July 22, acquitted 11 others in connection with the case filed with the Bhangagarh police station in 2017 for lack of evidence, while one person turned approver.

Meanwhile, Paul, along with the other members and officials of the APSC, were arrested for a separate cash-for-jobs case related to the Combined Competitive Examinations (CCE) for the recruitment of civil, police and other service officials. Paul was arrested by Dibrugarh police in November 2016 and released on bail in March 2023.