HYDERABAD: Justice Anil Kumar Jukanti of the Telangana High Court has quashed the FIR registered against Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar in the Class 10 Hindi question paper leak case.
The FIR, filed by Kamalapur police in Hanamkonda district, had alleged the involvement of the Union minister in the leak incident. The case was booked under several provisions of the IPC, Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 447 (criminal trespass), and 505(1)(b) (statements conducive to public mischief), along with Sections 4(A) and 6 read with 8 of the Telangana State Public Examinations (Prevention of Malpractices) Act, 1997, and Section 66D of the Information Technology Act.
After examining the material placed before it, the high court concluded that the allegations lacked merit and proceeded to quash the FIR in its entirety. With this order, the court has granted complete relief to Bandi Sanjay Kumar, effectively bringing closure to the accusations made against him in the case.
Amid high drama, Bandi Sanjay, the then BJP state president and Karimnagar MP, was arrested in Karimnagar on the midnight of April 4, 2023, for allegedly circulating the SSC Hindi examination question paper on WhatsApp. Bandi was named as A-1 in the case.
The SSC Hindi question paper found its way on to social media after a 16-year-old boy took a photo of the paper at an examination centre in Hanamkonda and shared with others. Bandi Sanjay was arrested on the following day.
Jailed for an offence I never committed: Bandi
According to the remand report, this was “a case of pre-planned and evil criminal conspiracy”, with an intention to create rumours and provoke a breach of peace and to show it as the failure of the government in preventing the paper leak.
It was intended to defame the elected government, the report said.
Reacting to his acquittal in the case, Bandi Sanjay on Thursday said: “We welcome the high court’s verdict quashing the 10th class paper leak case. I was jailed for an offence I never committed.”
The Union Minister of State for Home Affairs said that vengeance-driven acts always have consequences and added that the court judgment proved that all the cases filed against him were illegal.