The Patna High Court on Friday (July 12) permitted the CBI to take custody of 13 persons who were arrested by Patna Police in alleged NEET-UG question paper leak scam. According to the CBI, the key accused Rakesh Ranjan had arranged for solvers to solve NEET-UG Question Papers, therefore permission was sought to take custody of arrested persons to confront them with Rakesh Ranjan alias...
The Patna High Court on Friday (July 12) permitted the CBI to take custody of 13 persons who were arrested by Patna Police in alleged NEET-UG question paper leak scam.
According to the CBI, the key accused Rakesh Ranjan had arranged for solvers to solve NEET-UG Question Papers, therefore permission was sought to take custody of arrested persons to confront them with Rakesh Ranjan alias Rocky, who is also in CBI custody.
The CBI had sought for remand of the accused, however, the application was earlier rejected by the Exclusive Magistrate (CBI, Patna). The central probe agency then approached the High Court seeking remand.
Interestingly, the Central government has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court denying any mass malpractice in the NEET-UG 2024 exam. It said as per the report given by the experts' team from IIT Madras, there is neither any indication of mass malpractice nor a localised set of candidates being benefited.
The National Testing Agency also claimed that the video showing a photo of the NEET UG exam paper leaked on Telegram was fake.
However, High Court said considering the seriousness of the matter and in the interest of justice, it is inclined to stay the operation of the Magistrate's order and permit CBI to take custody of the 13 arrested persons.
“The C.B.I. is permitted to take all the opposite parties on remand. The Opposite party Nos. 1 to 13 shall be in C.B.I. custody till the period of fifteen days from the date of arrest expires as mentioned in paragraph No. 5 of the petition”, the bench comprising Justice Sandeep Kumar said.
The 13 accused sent to CBI custody include Nitish Kumar, Akhilesh Kumar, Sikandar Prasad Yadvendu, Ayush Kumar, Bittu Kumar, Amit Anand, Ashutosh Kumar, Roshan Kumar, Anurag Yadav, Abhishek Kumar, Awdesh Kumar, Shivnandan Kumar, and Reena Kumari.
Case Details: THE CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION Versus NITISH KUMAR & Ors., CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.51100 of 2024