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Police to consult legal opinion on charging union official for giving false info
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID)’s inquiry into the alleged irregularities that took place in the conduct of this year’s Grade Five Scholarship examination has resulted in Police threatening legal action against the union official who went public with the information.
The report compiled by the CID into the incident concluded with the Police forwarding its findings to the Attorney General’s Department seeking advice if there are grounds for legal action against the Ceylon Teachers Services Union (CTSU) Secretary Mahinda Jayasinghe who first revealed to the media several instances of irregularities in the conduct of the examination that had been brought to his notice.
“According to the information that was unearthed, Mr. Jayasinghe has disclosed baseless information to the media, the CID and to Court. Accordingly full details that emerged from the investigation pertaining to the case have been forwarded to the Attorney General’s Department to obtain advice if legal action can be pursued against Mr.Jayasinghe,” the CID report forwarded to the Examinations Commissioner said.
The Teachers Union Secretary told the Sunday Times he was looking forward to go before Courts so he could disclose all information regarding the irregularities that took place during the conduct of the examination in several areas of the country.
“We are not satisfied with the CID’s findings. It has been conducted in a thin way to shield the truth and intimidate those who came forward with the allegations,” he said. Mr. Jayasinghe was among those who were asked to make a statement to the CID during the inquiry.
The inquiry was initiated by the CID after the Examinations Commissioner M.N.J.Pushpakumara forwarded a complaint on August 27 regarding the complaints made to him alleging that some question papers had been leaked.
The examination was conducted on August 26 island wide with 318,416 students sitting for it at 2,803 centres.
In his complaint the Examinations Commissioner said he had received a mobile phone call saying that at the Yakkala Anura Primary School some teachers had discussed the paper with students before the examination started. The other complaints which were brought to his attention by the media were from areas such as Kantale and Imaduwa.
The CID in its report revealed that the mobile phone number from which the Examinations Commissioner received the call had been traced to its owner and the person concerned questioned as well as several teachers who had allegedly discussed the question paper with students before the exam started.
After questioning parents and teachers the CID said it found no evidence to support the claims made that the examination papers had been leaked or the conduct of the examination was flawed.
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