Bhopal, Jul 20 (IANS): The Madhya Pradesh government has appointed retired High Court judge Rajendra Kumar Verma to probe the alleged irregularities in Patwaris recruitment exams, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Thursday.

The government said the probe on alleged irregularities would be completed by August 31, and further action would be initiated on the basis of its recommendations.

“Retired Judge of Hon'ble High Court Rajendra Kumar Verma has been appointed to examine Group-2, Sub-Group-4, and Patwari Recruitment Examination conducted through Staff Selection Board. In the investigation, complaints related to the above examination and other relevant points arising during the investigation will also be investigated. Based on the findings of the investigation, appropriate recommendations will be submitted to the state government by August 31, 2023,” a post of the CM’s official Twitter handle read.

The development came a week after Chouhan had announced a hold to the appointment of selected candidates, until the matter is probed. Around 1.4 million students appeared for the examination conducted between March 15 to April 26 and the results were declared on June 30.

Chouhan had announced the appointment of over 9,000 selected candidates to put on hold following a massive protest staged by the students in Indore and Bhopal.

The Congress has been alleging foul play in the conduct of the exam, whose results were declared in May and June. As per Congress, seven out of 10 successful candidates were from the same test center in Gwalior, which was located in a college run by Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Sanjeev Vishwakarma. The Congress also alleged that a high proportion of those who cleared the exam were from the Gwalior-Chambal region.