Long arm of the law finally wrapped its fingers around the ones who indulged in the Professional Entrance Examination paper sale scam. Jammu and Kashmir legal system wrote on April 25, words of pronouncement of judgment which probably are first of its kind and which memories or written accounts can only refresh for times to come.
With this conviction, seen or heard never before, BOPEE Chairman and 42 others were awarded exemplary punishment both as jail term as well as fine. A few students, their parents, the BOPEE head and others conspired to play with the career of those students who worked hard, were promising and sincere. The greed of money played the spoilsport and doomed those who perpetuated the crime falling under the ambit of the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The Chairman got 16 years jail sentence and a fine of Rs. 1 crore. The main broker Sajjad Ahmed Bhat got 12 year jail term and Rs. 50 lakh fine. Two others too got 12 year term in jail and Rs. 25 lakh fine. Still, others got six years jail and Rs. 5 lakh fine. This paper carried series of stories about this infamous scam right from the beginning and just a day earlier of the arrest of the BOPEE Chief, this paper broke the story about his imminent arrest. The credit,undoubtedly goes to the investigating team who built a water tight case against the accused.
The investigating agency, under the leadership of the then IG Syed Javed Mujtaba Gillani did exemplary investigation and didn’t succumb to any pressure. The case is a clear manifestation of important role of investigating agency in such important cases and should serve as a case study for all such cases under investigation.
The breach of absolute trust took place as the one in whose trust and safe custody the question papers of CET-2012 were lodged, indulged in distrustfulness and dubiety to the detriment of the hard working and unsuspecting examinee students as also brazenly abusing his official position by resorting to sale and trade of question papers along with answer key, prior to conducting of examination. This resulted in the undeserving candidates being selected for the medical seats (MBBS). The High Court took due cognizance of gravity and the seriousness of the offence committed by the BOPEE Chief. That is why, on several occasions, at the outset, he was denied bail by the trial court as well as the High Court.. The criminal conspiracy in the instant case was fully established by putting the question papers on sale, the confidentiality of which the prime accused was under obligation to maintain at any cost.
The crafty ways indulged in by the BOPEE Chief on account of “experience”gained over years were conspicuous by him by not providing the complete set of question papers so as to guard against any possible suspicion but later felt free to enter into commercial deeds with the brokers, consciously joining them by putting the papers on sale amounting to breach of public trust of the worst kind as also abusing official position . He had betrayed the confidence reposed in him by the Government of the time by choosing him for the coveted position even after his superannuation. He played fraud like a hardened criminal with thousands of meritorious and hard working students.
The court in its judgment said, “These are some of the reasons for large scale brain drain from the State and the other law and order problems faced by the State in the contemporary times. Therefore, the accused deserve no leniency at all.”
With this major conviction, the message has gone clear to those who might be tempted to abuse their official positions for petty pecuniary gains and thus playing with the institution of honesty and trust as also undermining efficiency, hard work, knowledge of the subject and probity.
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