Acting against kingpins in paper leak cases: Gehlot after Pilot’s comment

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday assured that action was being taken against “kingpins” in the paper leak case and that “no one will be spared”, as former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot reiterated his call for “concrete arrangements” to curb such cases.

Pilot on Monday said that the Gehlot-led government should act against kingpins and not middlemen behind the string of recruitment exam paper leaks reported recently. “Incidents of paper leak hurt the dreams of youngsters who prepare for the exams in adverse conditions. In the time to come, instead of those who do petty ‘dalali’, the kingpins who allow such things to happen should be caught,” he said while addressing the Kisan Sammelan in Parbatsar town of Nagaur district.

Responding to Pilot’s charge without naming him, Gehlot said on Tuesday: “The action has been taken on the kingpins involved in the (paper leak) case, if leaders name anyone else involved, action will be taken on them also. Our thought is whosoever involved in the paper leak should be behind the bars.”

The CM also refuted Opposition allegations that leaders of his party or government officials were involved in the second grade teacher recruitment paper leak. “Rajasthan is the only state where the probe was swift; those involved officials were dismissed, those involved were arrested and a law was brought to check paper leaks. The students involved in paper leak were debarred from examinations – strict action was taken, what else can the government do?” he asked.

“They (opposition party leaders) should see what is in (BJP ruled) Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Here, we have razed the homes of those involved and employees were dismissed,” he added.

The CM’s statement came hours before the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLD) held a protest at Shahid Smarak in Jaipur over the paper leak case. “When CM can recommend CBI probe for cases where there was no demand, then why cannot for paper leak. The paper leak cases are continuing from the previous BJP government till today,” RLP chief and Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal said.  

Meanwhile, Pilot again called for stringent action against the accused. “I am glad that the government has taken action and caught some people. But the episode is happening one after the other. It hurts, and we have to make concrete arrangements,” he said at a gathering in Hanumangarh on Tuesday.

“People’s trust has to be won that no matter how powerful a person is, be it a leader, be it an officer, belong to any party, be it anywhere, we will never spare him, if he plays with the lives of children. And he should be punished. We always say this, the party also speaks and I hope that very soon work will be done in this direction,” he added.

The Rajasthan second grade teacher recruitment exam paper was leaked last month, following which the test was cancelled. More than 50 people, including candidates, were arrested for their alleged involvement.

In the last three years, eight cases of paper leak have been registered in the state. Between January 2019 and December 2022, over 237 accused have been arrested by the Rajasthan Police in paper leak cases.

In order to prevent cheating in the examinations, a notification of ‘Rajasthan Public Examinations (Measures for Prevention of Unfair Means in Recruitment) Act 2022’ was brought on April 6, 2022 by passing a voice vote resolution in the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly. Under the Act, strict steps are taken to prevent unfair means in the examinations and to make the recruitment process more transparent. Provision has been made for imprisonment of up to three years, minimum fine of ₹1 lakh and debarment from public examination for two years for the candidates using unfair means. There is also provision of imprisonment of 5 to 10 years and a fine of ₹10 lakh to ₹10 crore to any person, including the examinee, who uses unfair means in connivance with the examination agency.