Bihar to get 3 FTCs for speedy trial in paper leak cases

The Patna high court has decided to set up three special fast track courts (FTCs) in Patna, Lakhisarai and Purnea to ensure speedy disposal of cases involving question paper leaks, cheating, impersonation, other unfair practices and irregularities in public examinations, including NEET, officials said on Wednesday.

The Patna high court has decided to set up three special fast track courts (FTCs) in Patna, Lakhisarai and Purnea to ensure speedy disposal of cases involving question paper leaks, cheating, impersonation, other unfair practices and irregularities in public examinations, including NEET, officials said on Wednesday.

Bihar to get 3 FTCs for speedy trial in paper leak cases

The FTCs will exclusively deal with cases registered under the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, with the objective of expediting trials and delivering timely justice. Each FTC will be headed by a judicial officer of the rank of district judge or additional district and sessions judge. Gaurav Singh will preside over the Patna FTC, Seema Bhartiya will head the Lakhisarai FTC and Thakur Aman Kumar will oversee the Purnea FTC, officials said.

The examination conducted by Union Public Service Commission, Staff Selection Commission, Railway Recruitment Board, Institute of Banking Personnel Selection, National Testing Agency or such other authority, as may be notified by the Centre as well as ministries or departments of the central government and their attached and subordinate offices for recruitment of staff, will come under the purview of ‘public examination’ of the said Act.

The FTCs will conduct day-to-day hearings after the filing of charge sheets, with the aim of completing trials and delivering judgments within three months. Officials said that the HC has sent a proposal to the state government for formal notification of these courts. The Patna HC administration has requested the Bihar government to issue necessary notification for establishing the three special courts and appointing the designated judicial officers at the earliest, officials said.

The general administration department will issue a formal notification for the operation of the courts soon. Sources said the move comes after Union MoS (independent charge) for law and justice Arjun Ram Meghwal had sent a letter to Justice Sudhir Singh, acting Chief Justice of Patna HC, a couple of days back highlighting the Government of India’s commitment to treat paper leak and other offences as most serious ones as it concerns careers and lives of lakhs of students.

In the letter, the reference of the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair means) Act, 2024, has been made. The Act came into force from June 21, 2024. The term ‘public examination’ includes any examination conducted by the public examination authority as specified in the schedule of the Act. The offences under the said act are made cognisable, non-bailable and non-compoundable with punishment which extend up to five years along with a fine which can extend up to ₹10 lakh.

Meghwal, in his letter, had requested the acting Chief Justice, Patna HC, to designate courts in the state as specially designated FTCs for conducting trial of offences prescribed under the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, as well as Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. The initiative aims to ensure the speedy disposal of examination related cases and prevent them from remaining pending for prolonged periods.

FTCs to expedite trials in pending cases

In Patna special vigilance court, many important cases like TRE-3 paper leak, Bihar constable recruitment exam, cases related to 67th BPSC preliminary exam and AEDO paper leak cases, are pending. Now, after the formation of FTCs, the trial of these cases is expected to speed up, officials said.

Cases of alleged irregularities in the re-NEET exam in Lakhisarai and Purnia were also reported. Besides, cases of rigging related to the Staff Selection Commission for the Multi-Tasking Staff exam in Purnia on November 14, 2024, are underway.

Police arrested 35 including impersonators and centre officials, in connection with the alleged irregularities in ongoing multi-tasking (non-technical) staff and Havaldar 2024 Tier-I examinations conducted by SSC at the centre since October 12 in three shifts.

In June this year, Bihar police arrested 30 people allegedly for attempting irregularities in the NEET-UG re-examination in Lakhisarai. While 18 people working in the exam centres were arrested for violating the biometric verification norms, the majority of the others were impersonators. These cases will now be heard through FTCs.