JAIPUR: A day after the Rajasthan High Court scrapped the Sub-Inspector (SI) Recruitment-2021, the court on Monday granted bail to 23 accused individuals, including former RPSC member Ramuram Raika, in connection with the exam paper leak case.
The accused who secured bail include trainee SIs, dummy candidates, handlers, and paper buyers. However, the bail pleas of 29 others were rejected.
The SI recruitment exam, conducted for 859 posts, was canceled by the High Court on August 28 after it was revealed that several trainee SIs were involved in the leak.
Appearing for Raika, senior advocate Vivek Raj Bajwa argued that his client had already spent a considerable amount of time in custody and that the charge sheet in the case had been filed. He further contended that since the Supreme Court had granted bail to co-accused individuals in the same case, Raika too deserved similar relief.
Those granted bail include trainee SIs Santosh, Indubala, Vimala, Monica, Manisha Sihag, and Varsha; dummy candidate Indra; Chammi Bai; handler Sunil Kumar Beniwal; Lokesh Sharma; Arun Sharma; and Kamlesh Dhaka. Others who secured bail are Jairaj Singh, accused of using Bluetooth to cheat; photocopy operator Mahendra Kumar; Rajendra Kumar Yadav; Shyampratap Singh; Shaitanaram; Arun Kumar Prajapat; Mahendra Kumar; Deepak Rahd; Buddhisagar Upadhyay; and Shravanram, father of trainee SI Chanchal.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) member and poet Kumar Vishwas's wife, Dr. Manju Sharma, resigned from her post following the High Court's observations in the SI recruitment case.
In her resignation letter to Governor Haribhau Bagde, Sharma stated that she had always conducted her personal and professional life with transparency and integrity, but the recent controversy had tarnished both her reputation and the dignity of the commission.
She clarified that no investigation was pending against her in any police station or agency, nor had she ever been named an accused. "Still, being always in favor of purity in public life, and considering the dignity, impartiality, and transparency of the Commission as paramount, I am voluntarily resigning from the post of Member of RPSC," she wrote.
Dr. Sharma was appointed as an RPSC member by the Congress government in October 2020. Her tenure was originally set to continue until October 14, 2026. Prior to joining the Commission, she served as an Assistant Professor at Bharatpur Government College.