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The Delhi High Court has directed trial court for day-to-day hearing in the Haryana Civil Services (Judicial branch) paper leak case and positively dispose of the matter on or before April 15 this year.
The bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma in an order passed on January 18 stated that this is a serious matter involving the leaking of judicial examination papers. The matter was transferred from Chandigarh to Delhi by the orders of the Apex court. "The trial court is expected to expedite the matter and take the same on a day-to-day basis. The trial court is directed to dispose of the matter positively on or before April 15, 2024, and send the compliance report to this court," the court directed. The High Court also dismissed a petition filed by a Former Registrar (Recruitment), Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking to summon the records of Punjab and Haryana High Court, in the Haryana Civil Services (Judicial branch) paper leak case. Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma accepted the arguments of Charanjit Singh Bakhshi, Additional Public Prosecutor for UT-Chandigarh and Amit Sahni, Advocate, who submitted that appropriate application before the Trial Court can be moved by the Accused/Petitioner at the State of Defence evidence and the same may be disposed of following law. Earlier, the High Court had dismissed a petition filed by a Former Registrar (Recruitment), Punjab and Haryana High Court challenging the order framing charges against him by Sessions Court, Chandigarh, in the Haryana Civil Services (Judicial branch) paper leak case. The peculiar facts of the present case are that the FIR in question was ordered to be registered by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana in an order dated September 15, 2017, on a plea filed by a candidate, Suman. The matter was transferred to Delhi by the Supreme Court in 2021 while allowing the Transfer Petition filed by accused Dr Balwinder Kumar Sharma. According to the prosecution, Chandigarh Police lodged an FIR in under directions passed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the matter involves the leakage of the Haryana Civil Services (Judicial Branch) Preliminary Examination, 2017. Charanjit Singh Bakshi, Additional PP for Chandigarh, assisted by Amit Sahni's advocate earlier, argued before the Delhi High Court that this is an "open and shut case" since the accused is a public servant who has dishonestly and fraudulently misappropriated and converted for his use the question paper of the Preliminary Examination of HCS (Judicial Branch), 2017 entrusted to him and under his control as a public servant and allowed the co-accused-Sunita to have access thereto; therefore he is guilty of having committed the offence under Section 13 of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. Advocate Bakshi further argued that the allegations against the accused persons are serious, the accused persons were in constant touch with each other on mobile phones, and the Petitioner had possession of HCS (Judicial) Paper in his possession. "There is sufficient material (documentary and electronic evidence) against the accused persons and the same cannot be ignored at this initial stage. It was also submitted that the scope of interference in revision is to evaluate serious illegality, infirmity or perversity in the impugned order and it was prayed that the present petition may be dismissed," he said. There are a total of nine accused in the matter, which include registrar recruitment, who allegedly leaked the paper to co-Sunita and the remaining accused were either candidates or relatives of candidates with whom the paper was shared. (ANI)
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