Telangana: Standby invigilator shares Class 10 exam paper with colleague; 4 govt staff suspended
Hyderabad (PTI): Four government staff have been suspended in Vikarabad district of Telangana after a standby invigilator at a school allegedly took a photo of a question paper of Class 10 board examinations and shared it with a teacher on an instant messaging app while the test was going on.
The Class 10 (SSC) exams commenced across the state on Monday.
Police booked a case in connection with the alleged incident.
The reliever (standby invigilator) in the government school allegedly took screenshots of the First Language (Telugu) question paper on his mobile phone soon after the exam began and sent it on the app to a teacher in another government school in the district to prepare the answers for malpractice, officials said.
As the news had spread on electronic media, the duo panicked and deleted it, they said.
However, the examination was conducted peacefully and the integrity of the test has not been compromised in any aspect, officials claimed.
It was an individual instance of malpractice by the invigilator, they said.
The Vikarabad district collector has suspended four employees, including the men who were allegedly directly involved in the matter.
The district collector has been directed by senior officials of the education department to take action as per relevant rules.
The officials pointed out that the exam slated to be held on Tuesday would be conducted as per schedule. The parents and students are assured that there is no reason for apprehension in the matter, they said.
Meanwhile, Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar hit out at the alleged leak of Class 10 Telugu paper and demanded the resignation of Education Minister P Sabita Indra Reddy.
Kumar, in a statement, demanded that the remaining exams be conducted in a peaceful manner.
The activists of NSUI held a protest outside the SSC Board here and sought the removal of the Education Minister from her post, a Congress release said.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Telangana police is currently investigating the alleged leak of some question papers of recruitment tests conducted by the state public service commission.
Police have arrested 15 people in connection with the paper leak issue which led to a strident attack by the opposition against the BRS government.
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Court allows 5-day police custody of Bibhav Kumar in Swati Maliwal assault case
New Delhi (PTI): A Delhi court allowed five-day custodial interrogation of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar in the Swati Maliwal assault case, sing the police remand was a "necessity" in the matter.
Metropolitan Magistrate Gaurav Goyal was hearing the application of Delhi Police which was represented by Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastava. The police had sought seven day custody.
It is alleged that Kumar, who is Kejriwal's personal assistant, assaulted AAP MP Swati Maliwal at the CM's residence on May 13.
"Considering the submissions made on behalf of both the parties, I find there is a necessity of police custody remand in the present case. Accordingly, the application moved by the investigating officer (IO) is partly allowed and the accused is remanded to police custody for five days," the court said in its order passed around 12:45 AM Sunday.
It noted the prosecution's submissions about the need to take Kumar to Mumbai and other parts of the national capital to collect evidence, which was not possible without the accused's custody.
"Admittedly, the case is at a nascent stage. Allegations made in the FIR are corroborated in her (Maliwal's) statement recorded by the magistrate on oath and further, it is again corroborated in the medico-legal case (MLC) of the victim or complainant," the court said.
The magistrate also observed, "I am aware of the view of constitutional courts that the opportunity must be given to the investigating agency to complete the investigation in order to reach the truth of the matter but at the same time the rights of the accused are also to be protected."
Asking the Investigating Officer to take Kumar into formal custody, the court directed his medical examination every 24 hours and said the investigating agency would not subject the accused to "any torture."
It also allowed Kumar to meet his advocate and wife for half an hour each during the police custody.
Kumar's application for providing requisite medicines was also allowed.
The proceedings which commenced around 9: 15 PM Saturday saw initial arguments by Srivastava following which the magistrate said, "I find force in the arguments of the APP (Additional Public Prosecutor) that there were sufficient grounds to arrest the accused without notice."
The prosecutor made several arguments, including those mentioned in the remand application and also that the "means or weapon" by which Kumar assaulted Maliwal had to be recovered.
The vehement counter-arguments by Kumar's counsels continued for more than one-and-a-half hours. One of his counsels, Rajiv Mohan, claimed that Maliwal had lodged the FIR "belatedly after deliberation and concoction."
The Delhi Police arrested Kumar earlier on Saturday and his anticipatory bail plea was subsequently observed as becoming "infructuous" by a Delhi court.
