Chandigarh, Sep 4 (IANS) The CBI has recommended registration of cases of cheating, forgery and conspiracy against the then Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala and several top officers, including two former chief secretaries, in a recruitment scandal, official sources said Tuesday.

Asked to probe the matter following directions from the Supreme Court, the anti-corruption bureau of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) here has submitted to the apex court its findings in the matter recently, official sources said here. The CBI has recommended that the nominations of candidates be cancelled.

The CBI has recommended that cases of cheating, forgery, using forged document as genuine and conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code and other sections under the Prevention of Corruption Act be registered against Chautala, then transport minister Ashok Arora, then chief secretaries Sunil Ahuja and A.N. Mathur, then principal secretary to chief minister B.D. Dhalia and others.

The matter pertains to the Chautala government recommending the nomination of ineligible officials to be made as class-I Haryana Civil Service (HCS) officers. The recommendations were made by the state government to the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC).

The candidates, according to the CBI, were clearly favoured for nomination to the HCS, overlooking the claim of eligible, better qualified and senior candidates.

Among the names recommended for nomination then was that of Anurag Dhalia, the son of Dhalia.

The CBI also recommended to the Supreme Court to give directions to the Haryana government to cancel the nominations and lay down clear guidelines for selection of such candidates in future.