Rajasthan High Court Grants Bail To Man Booked For Sending 'Dummy Candidate' To Take Govt Examination On His Behalf

The Rajasthan High Court granted bail to an accused booked for sending a dummy in an examination for the post of teacher based on the revelation that the candidate was not apprehended in the examination hall, and rather that the case was lodged one year after the examination was held.

The bench of Justice Farjand Ali was hearing the bail application filed by the accused. It was alleged that the petitioner was an aspirant for the examination held for the recruitment of a teacher and he had sent another person to appear in the exam on his behalf.

The accused was charged with cheating by personation i.e. Section 419 of IPC as well as under the Rajasthan Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2022. He was also booked under Section 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2008 which provides punishment for cheating by personation using any communication device or computer resource.

After perusing the material on record, the Court found that it was alleged that the dummy candidate had appeared for the exam on behalf of the accused. However, the Court highlighted a significant fact that despite the allegation by the examination department, the dummy candidate was not apprehended in the examination hall, rather the case came to be filed one year after the examination was held. The Court said:

“The startling fact of the case would be that the candidate was not apprehended in the examination hall, rather the case was lodged after one year of the examination. Thus, a strong arguable case exists in favour of the petitioner.”

Considering this peculiar fact, the Court found it suitable to grant the benefit of bail to the petitioner. Accordingly, the bail application was allowed.

Title: Prem Raj v State of Rajasthan

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Raj) 170

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