A proclaimed offender in an alleged case of paper leak at Panjab University (PU) was acquitted by the special CBI court on Friday after CBI moved an application withdrawing the case against him. Twenty-six years after the CBI arrested Sukhwinder Singh along with a former PU Controller of Examination (CoE) Dr Sodhi Ram in an alleged paper leak case, Sukhwinder was acquitted six months after the CoE’s acquittal. The orders of Additional District and Sessions Judge Vimal Kumar reads, “accused Sukhwinder Singh is acquitted of charges punishable under Section 120-b read with 420 IPC”. The case dates back to May 26, 1988, when the then PU Vice-Chancellor M M Puri initiated an inquiry following the leak of a maths theory paper. After the inquiry ended on June 6, 1988, Puri asked CBI to probe the matter. [related-post] On July 21, 1998, a FIR under the Prevention of Corruption Act was lodged against Dr Ram and some others. Dhan Singh, an accused and a former PU clerk, had alleged that Dr Ram asked him to leak two papers. After CBI submitted a chargesheet on August 4, 2000, the court dropped charges of corruption and framed Dr Ram and the others for cheating and criminal conspiracy instead. Dr Ram had then moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court, where the CBI failed to file a response.
