Gujarat HC vacates interim relief to Australia-based woman accused in ‘missing answer sheets’ case; to face lookout notice

Noting the submissions of the prosecution that the Investigating Officer initiated steps to ensure the return of Patel following the HC’s directions, the March 16 order of the court also noted that the trial court, on February 9, granted the proceedings for proclamation against an absconding accused, requiring their appearance within at least 30 days.

The HC order states, “It appears that the Investigating Officer, has taken steps pursuant to the order of this court… the anticipatory bail granted to the present applicant, has been set aside. It also appears that proceedings for proclamation… has also been granted by the learned Trial Court. It also appears that the Investigating Officer has initiated proceedings for cancellation of the passport of the present applicant. It is also intimated that the Investigating Officer has submitted an official request to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India for opening of a lookout circular against the applicant herein.”

The court order also states that the applicant, “clearly appears to be a person who does not have any respect or regard for the legal proceedings, having misused liberty granted to her…”

The March 16 order of the HC came over two months after the HC passed an order on January 7, imposing a cost of Rs 50,000 and directing the Investigating Officer to take expeditious steps to ensure Patel’s return to appear before the trial court. The proceedings of January 7 of the HC were scheduled as Patel’s advocate had assured the court on December 23, 2025 that she would return by January 6, to which the HC granted an extension of the ‘expired’ anticipatory bail granted by the trial court in April 2024.

Patel is one of the accused students in the July 2023 case of the Gujarat University (GU) of around 28 missing answer sheets of a BSc nursing exam. Patel, who has been summoned by the Ahmedabad sessions court to appear before it for the process of framing the charges in the case, had implored the HC to grant her time till February or March to remain present in India. In December, while hearing the submissions of Patel’s advocate, the HC orally remarked that the accused “could not take the judiciary for granted” and directed the counsel to make a submission of a definite date of arrival of the accused. Patel’s counsel informed the court that she would arrive from Australia on January 6, 2026.

In her plea, Patel informed the court that she is “settled in Australia” and requires time to process her travel to India. According to the case of the prosecution of a bunch of answer sheets of students of the BSc nursing course and some of the physiotherapy course had been allegedly removed from the locker room after the exam was held on July 10, 2023, to facilitate some students to “fill in blank answers” in lieu of Rs 50,000 per student. The prosecution’s case is based on a complaint lodged by GU July 12, 2023, after student unions brought the alleged matter to light and the answer sheets were found in the campus a couple of days later.

Two former student leaders, Sunny Chaudhary and Amit Singh, as well as a peon, Sanjay Damor, were said to be the main accused in the case and were arrested in the subsequent month of August 2023, following investigations.