The Odisha High Court on Monday directed the State Government to file a detailed status report positively within a week on the Crime Branch inquiry into the 2013 Plus II examination question paper leak. The examination was conducted by Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE).
Notably, the High Court had issued a similar notice to the Government on April 29, 2013 asking it to file a status report within three weeks. But surprisingly, the Government had not acted upon it for over two years, and when the matter was listed on the day, a Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice PK Mohanty and Justice Biswajit Mohanty took strong exceptions to it.
Advocate Nishikant Mishra had made a letter petition to the court two years ago seeking a CBI inquiry into the question paper leak. Doubting the competence of the Crime Branch, Mishra had alleged that the then Higher Education Minister, his kin and several key officials of the department were involved in the incident in exchange of a huge kickback.
Converting the letter petition into a PIl, the then Chief Justice C Nagappan had asked the Government to file a status report on the Crime Branch police probe. Mishra had mentioned that the Crime Branch on previous similar occasions had miserably failed in cracking the question paper leak and question paper theft incidents.