Manju Sharma, a member of the controversy-ridden Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) and wife of poet Kumar Vishwas, has submitted her resignation from the RPSC days after the Rajasthan High Court made critical remarks against her and other members while cancelling the 2021 Sub Inspector recruitment.
In her letter addressed to Governor Haribhau Bagade on Monday, Sharma said, “I have spent my entire working and personal life working with utmost transparency and honesty, but due to a controversy that arose in a recruitment process recently, my personal reputation and the dignity of the entire commission have been affected.”
“No investigation of any kind is pending against me in any police institution or any investigation agency, nor have I ever been considered an accused in any case,” she wrote.
“Nevertheless, being always in favour of purity in public life, and considering the dignity, impartiality and transparency of the Commission as paramount, I am voluntarily submitting my resignation from the post of member of Rajasthan Public Service Commission,” Sharma said.
The HC had said that she and others had compromised the integrity of the examination.
“Through their active participation in, or knowledge of, the leakage of papers and prejudicing of the interview process, RPSC members Babu Lal Katara, Ramuram Raika, Manju Sharma, Sangeeta Arya, Jaswant Rathi and Chairman Sanjay Shrotiya enabled the systemic and large-scale compromise of the examination’s integrity,” the HC said in its August 28 order.
In another observation, the HC had termed as “alarming” the “active connivance and involvement of several other members of the Commission, including Manju Sharma, Sangeeta Arya, and Jaswant Rathi”.
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“As per the charge-sheet, these members had complete knowledge of the transactions and malpractices ensuing between members of the Commission for personal gains,” it said.
The court had also noted that former RPSC member Ramuram Raika “also interacted with members Manju Sharma, Sangeeta Arya, and Jaswant Rathi regarding his children’s interviews. These members’ participation suggests systemic corruption within the RPSC, compromising the recruitment process’s credibility at both interview and written examination stages”.
Sharma has a PhD and an MA (Geography) degree. Earlier, she was an Associate Professor at the government MSJ PG college in Bharatpur.
Like her resignation, her October 2020 appointment was mired in controversy. At the time, the Ashok Gehlot government had been panned by some within the Congress for appointing Sharma, as her husband Kumar Vishwas, the Aam Aadmi Party founding member, was a staunch critic of the Congress party and its leadership and had also contested, unsuccessfully, against Rahul Gandhi in Amethi in 2014. With RPSC members being appointed for six years, Sharma’s tenure would have lasted till October 2026.
