Hyderabad: Justice Mummineni Sudheer Kumar of the Telangana High Court set aside an order of the SSC Board to debar a candidate in the alleged paper leak case, which reportedly involved BJP functionary Bandi Sanjay Kumar. The judge allowed a writ petition filed by a Class 10 student of a residential school in Hanamkonda.
The official version is that on April 4, the petitioner gave scope for alleged malpractice by using unfair means and violated provisions of the Telangana Public Examination (Prevention of Malpractices and Unfair Means) Act during the course of the Hindi examination.
The court found that according to the remand case diary, one Shivaji took photographs of the question paper from the petitioner during the examination. The court said: “There is nothing to indicate that the petitioner has placed a role in the matter of the said Mr Shivaji taking photographs of the question paper…”
The court also recorded a finding that there was no basis for the authority to record the petitioner’s complicity in the crime. Justice Sudheer found that there were three different versions of the incident and that the petitioner was debarred “unilaterally without affording any opportunity to the petitioner.”
“There is no dispute about the power and authority of the respondents to impose such punishments but, while imposing any such punishments, having serious consequences the respondents are required to follow the basic principles of law, especially the principles of natural justice,” the judge said.
The judge rejected the plea of the Additional Advocate General that no inquiry was needed in the manner. The court said that it was not exonerating the petitioner but was constrained to interfere in the matter “for want of compliance with principles of natural justice which is the basic principle of administrative law.”
