Telangana: No relief to Bandi Sanjay Kumar in SSC paper leak case

Hyderabad: Bandi Sanjay, MP and TS BJP president got no relief in the Telangana High Court on Friday in the case registered against him in Kamalapur PS (Hanamkonda) following the SSC question paper leak.

Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan issued notice to Bandi, the headmaster of ZPHS school, de facto complainant, and the State government, directing them to file their counter- affidavits by June 16.

L Ravichander, senior counsel appearing for Bandi, insisted on the court and pleaded to at least direct the police, not to take coercive action against the MP. The plea was declined by CJ Bhuyan.

Advocate-General Banda Shivananda Prasad informed the court that Bandi conspired with other accused and tried to flare up the issue of SSC exam paper leak, since the beginning of March 2023. The moment he was arrested and put behind bars, there was no incident of paper leak in the State.

"Instigation and abetment is a grave crime in law and Bandi has resorted to that action. Prasad vehemently opposed granting any relief to the MP in the case. He informed the court that the BJP leader was yet to hand over his cell phone to the investigating officer, which is a crucial aspect in the case.

Ravichander told the court that the ZPHS headmaster never bothered to ensure that none sneaks into the exam centre; rather he was more interested in giving a complaint against Bandi, the main accused, as the other accused, who got access to the SSC Hindi question paper, had sent it to WhatsApp group of SSC 2019-20 batch students and forwarded the same to WhatsApp number of Bandi.'

He said the police were not even issuing notice to Bandi under Section 41A CrPC, thereby violating SC guidelines.

The CJ was hearing the plea filed by the MP seeking a stay of all proceedings against him in crime no 60 of 2023 registered by the Kamalapur police. Hearing in the case was adjourned to June 16.