Shillong: The recent nationwide outrage over the NEET-UG paper leak, which led to widespread protests and the resignation of the Union Education Minister, has once again brought attention to an old but unresolved case involving a senior Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer serving in Meghalaya.
The case concerns M. Balakrishna Reddy, a 1993-batch IFS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, who was convicted in a criminal case linked to alleged malpractice during the 1996 Civil Services Examination. Despite his conviction and ongoing disciplinary proceedings, he has continued in service and has received multiple promotions, eventually rising to the rank of Principal Secretary in the Meghalaya government.
According to official records and court documents, Reddy was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after allegedly carrying pre-written fake supplementary answer sheets into the UPSC Civil Services (Main) Examination in 1996. The UPSC subsequently cancelled his candidature and barred him from appearing in its examinations for ten years.
After a prolonged trial, a CBI court in Indore convicted Reddy in 2011 under Sections 417, 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to two years’ rigorous imprisonment for forgery-related offences, along with a separate three-month sentence for cheating. His appeal was dismissed by a sessions court in 2013, following which he briefly underwent imprisonment before securing bail from the Madhya Pradesh High Court, where his criminal revision petition remains pending.
Responding to the allegations, Reddy denied ever cheating in the examination and claimed that the case stemmed from what he described as a prejudiced investigation by the investigating officer.
“There are no allegations of cheating. The allegations against me were that I attempted or planned to attempt unfair means. Planning is a state of mind, so how can anybody have evidence of it?” Reddy said.
Referring to the prosecution’s case, he said the allegation regarding carrying fake supplementary answer sheets was only the prosecution’s version and had been strongly contested during the trial.
“That was the allegation. We strongly refuted it during the course of the trial. That is not the factual position. The entire matter is pending before the court and it is not conclusive,” he said.
Reddy also alleged that his rights were violated during the investigation and maintained that the criminal proceedings arose from those actions.
“There were allegations that the investigating officer acted in collusion with certain people with a prejudiced motive. My rights were abused by the police personnel. I was so upset that I left the examination hall and did not even write the examination that day,” he said.
He further pointed out that the Madhya Pradesh High Court had suspended his sentence and that the criminal revision remains pending.
“The Madhya Pradesh High Court suspended the sentence and the case is pending. There is not an iota to any of the allegations. I have been a first-time student all along my educational career, and I cleared the Indian Forest Service examination in my very first attempt,” Reddy added.
In a significant 2022 judgment, the Meghalaya High Court observed that it was extraordinary that “a civil servant who was convicted… for offences as grave as indulging in corrupt practice in the course of a Civil Services Examination” continued to hold a senior position as Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests. The court also remarked that the officer had taken advantage of the pendency of proceedings to “play the State Government against the Central Government” and avoid disciplinary action.
Documents show that the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), the cadre-controlling authority for the IFS, has repeatedly asked the Meghalaya government to initiate appropriate disciplinary proceedings and review the promotions granted to Reddy. The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has also reportedly advised that the disciplinary proceedings should propose the highest penalty—dismissal from service—considering the gravity of his conviction.
The MoEFCC has further maintained that the “sealed cover” procedure under Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) guidelines should have been followed while considering Reddy for promotion, as criminal prosecution was pending against him. The ministry has written to the Meghalaya government on multiple occasions seeking a review of the promotions and corrective action.
The Meghalaya government, however, has maintained that the promotions were granted in compliance with directions issued by the Meghalaya High Court in earlier service-related litigation and that there was no violation of the applicable promotion guidelines. It has argued that cancelling promotions granted years earlier would be administratively untenable and contrary to court directions.
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The matter remains entangled in multiple legal proceedings. Reddy’s criminal revision against his conviction is still pending before the Madhya Pradesh High Court, while the Supreme Court is hearing issues relating to disciplinary authority and proceedings initiated against him.
The case continues to raise questions about accountability in the civil services, particularly as Parliament has since enacted the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, introducing stricter penalties for examination malpractice in the wake of recent examination controversies across the country.
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