MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has recommended that a committee headed by a retired High Court judge examine the conduct of the present and former chairpersons and members of the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC), after allegations that exam papers were leaked.
Fadnavis sent the recommendation to Governor Jishnu Dev Varma, and the committee is to report within three months, ThePrint, the Free Press Journal and The Pioneer reported on October 6. The recommendation was made under Article 317 of the Constitution, which deals with the removal and suspension of the chairperson and members of a public service commission.
"I am ready for an inquiry into the entire Commission, including the present and former chairpersons," Fadnavis said, according to ThePrint, adding that "we will not hesitate to recommend their removal to the President."
He pushed back against the demand that the current chairman be removed straight away. "You are asking the President to remove a person who was not even the chairperson... at the time when the paper leak happened," he said.
The MPSC is chaired by Vivek Bhimanwar. The state government has also ended the deputation of Mahendra Uttamrao Harpalkar as MPSC secretary, ThePrint and The Pioneer reported.
MPSC aspirants in Pune had been protesting for six days when the recommendation was made, with the chairman's resignation as their main demand, according to ThePrint and The Pioneer. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi was expected to meet the aspirants on October 7 or 8.
The Free Press Journal reported that about one lakh students had gathered at the protest at SM Joshi Bridge in Pune. NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar issued a 48-hour ultimatum demanding Bhimanwar's removal, and Manoj Jarange Patil and Raj Thackeray visited the protest. "Only two years are left now for you, CM ji. Once you are down with votes after two years from now, we will never choose you back," Jarange Patil said, according to the paper.
The protests centre on the screening examination for Drug Inspector (Group B) posts, held in March 2026, whose paper was allegedly leaked. Reporting on an earlier march by aspirants in Pune, from Omkareshwar Temple Chowk to the District Collectorate, The Pioneer said on September 7 that seven people had been arrested in the case, among them three MPSC officials and a woman candidate who had ranked seventh. Investigators had recovered a laptop from an MPSC official.
At that march, the aspirants demanded the resignation of the MPSC chairman and secretary, the public release of the Crime Branch's preliminary inquiry report, and a forensic audit of exams held during the tenure of Abhijit Lendwe, an official who has been arrested. They also sought a review of alleged errors in the evaluation of the 2025 State Services Main and Agricultural Services examinations, and safeguards for the Group C preliminary examination due on October 25, 2026.
Rohit Pawar and Congress MLA Vishwajit Kadam joined that march. Pawar said the agitation was being led by MPSC aspirants rather than any political party, The Pioneer reported. Bhimanwar rejected the demand for his resignation then, saying the leak had happened before his tenure.
The recommendation now rests with the Governor. Fadnavis has said that the government "will not hesitate" to recommend the removal of chairpersons or members to the President if the inquiry warrants it.
