Vivek Bhimanwar, who chairs the Maharashtra Public Service Commission, has been placed on compulsory leave by state authorities while an inquiry into an alleged paper leak runs its course — a step taken after job aspirants in Pune maintained a public demonstration spanning eleven days, calling for his removal from the post.
At Pune's S M Joshi Bridge, the push led by NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) MLA Rohit Pawar over an extended period has now translated into a concrete outcome. A tentative agreement to pause the demonstration was reached among the students after the government announced its decision.
Bhosale, serving as State Minister, held talks with the demonstrating aspirants and gave notice that charges filed against students over their involvement in the agitation would be dropped. Accountability for anyone found responsible in the MPSC paper leak case was pledged to the gathering by him.
Following a meeting with MPSC aspirants, Maharashtra Minister Shivendraraje Bhonsle told a news channel that the committee had only needed to address certain technical adjustments, and that a constructive position on the MPSC had now been put in place.
Bhimanwar noted in an earlier post on X that a judicial inquiry into the MPSC paper leak case had been ordered by the state government, adding that the requisite amendments had been drawn up and were now being formally submitted. He stated that ethics had formed a consistent priority across the span of his life. He announced a decision to take leave for the duration of the inquiry rather than remain in the post while it proceeds, and went on to say that protecting the autonomy, credibility, and interests of MPSC students had always been his foremost concern and would remain so going forward.
Tukaram Mundhe, an IAS officer holding a senior rank, has been placed in the secretary role for the panel formed to look into matters connected to the MPSC.
Protesting students had called for Bhimanwar's outright removal, yet a government move to bar him from office for the duration of the inquiry has been enough to put the agitation on hold. Calls for him to step down had stayed at the centre of the talks, unresolved throughout.
Those remarks surfaced as candidates preparing for MPSC posts kept up a street-level push in Pune, pressing the commission to address what they described as irregularities in the examination process alongside other unresolved grievances.
A preliminary inquiry was opened by the MPSC after complaints about alleged irregularities in the screening examination conducted on 22 March came forward. A notice seeking candidates for the Drug Inspector position was put out by the Commission on 29 July 2025.
Held at six divisional headquarters across Maharashtra, the in-person screening test took place on 22 March, with its outcome published on 12 June. Of the 506 candidates who cleared the preliminary screening, each was deemed qualified to advance to the interview stage. Across a three-week window running from 1 July through 22 July, face-to-face screening sessions took place for 488 of those applicants.
Once interviews wrapped up, the Commission released a preliminary ranked list of 488 names — 485 of whom met the eligibility requirements for the post, with the remaining three falling outside those criteria.
Written complaints forwarded to the Commission via email over a four-day window spanning late July — from the 22nd through the 26th — came from candidates and public representatives pointing to alleged irregularities in the March 22 screening examination. Formal complaints put forward at the time pointed to a number of candidates who had reportedly obtained the test paper — or portions of its contents — ahead of the 20 March sitting, with that material later said to have spread through social and electronic media channels.
When test irregularities came to light, the MPSC determined that the recruitment process for that post could not stand, cancelling the entire drive.
