May address plea for re-conduct of AIPMT: SC

The Supreme Court said on Tuesday that if all those who benefitted from the leakage of All India Pre-Medical Entrance Test (AIPMT) question papers were not identified and if there was a lurking doubt over the integrity of the test, then it may address the plea for re-conduct of the examination.

"If all those who are beneficiaries (of the leakage of the paper) are not identified and there is a lurking doubt, then we will decide," said the vacation bench of Justices A.K. Sikri and Uday Umesh Lalit, as senior counsel Jayant Bhushan and others urged the court to consider the re-conduct of AIPMT as difference of one mark makes and breaks the career of the students.

However, that the court has its reservations on the re-conduct of AIPMT was evident as it said that this "will create a chaos". Even in the last hearing of the matter on May 21, the court did not appear inclined to pleas for re-conduct of the AIPMT.

Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh opposed the plea saying that any re-conduct of the examination would involve four months' time.

He also told the court that there was not just one question paper at any examination centre but multiple papers and if a student has one set of question paper, then students sitting next to him or around him may not be having same question papers.

The court then asked the Haryana Police to complete its investigations into the leakage of the papers and its extent in other states and come before it by June 3.

In its status report on its investigations carried since May 21, when it had submitted it first status report, Haryana Police told the court that kingpin Roop Singh Dangi was still at large and untraceable.

The court was told that 72 mobile phones that were used in the case by the accused have been traced to three service providers. The court was told that all the 72 mobile SIMs were acquired on fake identities -- 70 of them were sourced from one retail outlet and the remaining two from two different outlets.

Police said 358 calls were made from these 72 mobile phones to different numbers in different states.

At this, the court said that it "would be very unlikely that a person receiving the answer keys of the question papers would share it with others to his disadvantage".

"Those who have paid (for the answer keys)... why will they share it with others," it observed.

The court is hearing a PIL by Tanvi Sarwal along with another petition by Jahnvi Shanker seeking the re-conduct of the AIPMT in the wake of the leakage of the question paper and subsequent answer key being circulated through electronic devices.