Punjab and Haryana high court notice on petition for CBI probe into exam ‘irregularities’

The petition alleged that the malpractice was not an isolated occurrence confined to the few candidates and centres named in the FIR, and that beneficiaries of the racket were spread across three districts

The Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) on Thursday sought responses from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Punjab government on a plea seeking a CBI probe into the pharmacy officer examination in the state. The bench of Justice Sandeep Moudgil has sought the responses by January 13, 2027. The examination was conducted on July 19 for 454 posts under the Punjab health department.

The examination was conducted on July 19 for 454 posts under the Punjab health department. (HT)

The court was told that the examination was compromised by an organised, hi-tech, inter-state cheating racket that was busted by the police on the exam day. A total of seven operators and 28 candidates were detained, and 27 wireless cheating devices were recovered in Faridkot. The petition alleged that the malpractice was not an isolated occurrence confined to the few candidates and centres named in the FIR, and that beneficiaries of the racket were spread across three districts. It added that the Punjab government was approached for a thorough probe but to no avail.

According to counsel Anil Mehta, the accused named in the police press note of July 19 are different from those named in the criminal case registered on July 20. The police had given a clean chit to officers and declared that no paper leak had occurred without conducting any investigation, he said, adding that these circumstances warranted a probe by an agency from outside the state.