Telangana Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan accepted the resignations of the chairman and three other members of the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) paving the way for the formation of a new board to initiate the recruitment process under the aegis of the new Congress government.

The governor accepted the resignations almost a month after their submission. A statement issued by the Raj Bhavan on Wednesday attributed the delay to the ongoing investigations into the paper leak case as Dr Soundarajan had sought the opinion of the advocate general on the matter.

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The chairman of the TSPSC, Dr B Janardhan Reddy, submitted his resignation soon after meeting A Revanth Reddy for the first time on 11 December. During the meeting, the new chief minister of Telangana expressed his annoyance over the functioning of the TSPSC.

The previous board’s tenure was marred by leakage of question paper and repeated postponement of examinations leading to public anger eventually resulting in the ouster of the BRS government.

“Contrary to speculation or misinformation, there has been no delay on the part of the governor in accepting the resignations submitted by the chairman and three other members of TSPSC,” read the statement issued by Raj Bhavan. Instead, it reflected “the responsible handling of a matter that involves ongoing investigations”, claimed the governor’s office.

Along with Dr B Janardhan Reddy, a retired IAS officer, three other members – R Satyanarayana, Prof. Bandi Linga Reddy, and Karam Ravinder Reddy – had submitted their resignations.

The Raj Bhawan statement further clarified that upon receiving the resignation letters, the governor had promptly forwarded them to the state government for circulation of the file. The remarks and the opinion of the Advocate General were also sought in the matter.

“The ongoing investigations by the special investigation team (SIT) played a crucial role in the decision-making process,” it was stated.

The file finally came back to the governor through the chief minister on 9 January and the resignations were accepted on 10 January. “The Hon’ble Governor accepted all four resignations without prejudice to the ongoing investigations and any potential future criminal proceedings,” read the statement.