“No civilised society can ever accept the leaking of question papers for recruitment to government posts, forcing the government to cancel the examination,” the Orissa High Court order of May 22 read.
The court was hearing a batch of bail petitions filed by the accused who allegedly leaked the question paper of CPSE and stalled the examination twice.
‘Crime against society’
- The Orissa High Court observed that such practices are particularly unfair to meritorious candidates who prepare honestly for competitive examinations, only to find themselves disadvantaged by the “fraudulent practices of unscrupulous persons.”
- It added that sabotaging a recruitment examination through question paper leaks damages the morale of deserving candidates, particularly since the CPSE 2024 exam had to be cancelled twice due to the alleged actions of the accused.
- The court further held that the allegations disclose a crime against society of significant magnitude, which cannot be accepted in any way.
- The Orissa High Court pointed out that the socio-economic offence constitutes a class apart and needs to be visited with a different approach in the matter of bail
- It noted that the chargesheet has already been submitted and the petitioners have been in custody for some time.
- However, the court mentioned that it is not enough to consider the bail application of the petitioners in a case like this.
- It rejected the bail applications of all 17 petitioners and disposed of the petitions.
3 buses, midnight interception and ‘scam’
According to the prosecution, the case originated on the intervening night of September 29–30, 2025, when Berhampur police, acting on intelligence inputs, intercepted three luxury buses carrying 114 candidates near the Girisola–Ichhapuram interstate border.
During questioning, the occupants allegedly admitted that they had been associated with the accused to obtain confidential information relating to the CPSE-2024 examination scheduled for October 5 and 6, 2025.
The investigation further alleged that the accused had received Rs 25 lakh from each candidate and was transporting them to Andhra Pradesh as part of a larger conspiracy to leak examination papers. The candidates were allegedly being escorted in the buses by the accused and their associates.
It was stated that the exam was scheduled to be held on October 5 and 6, 2025, for the recruitment of police inspector and equivalent Group C posts.
According to the investigation, a network of accused persons had earlier gathered around 130–150 candidates at various locations in Odisha, West Bengal and the Sundarbans, where question papers were allegedly leaked to candidates through digital displays.
The alleged leak led to the cancellation of the CPSE-2024 examination in March 2025.
Subsequently, when the examination was rescheduled for October 2025, authorities allegedly uncovered another attempt to leak the papers, forcing the recruitment process to be cancelled for a second time.
After registration of the case, the investigation was initially handed over to the crime branch concerned, but subsequently, it was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which, after conducting a necessary investigation, found prima facie complicity of the petitioners, and they were taken into custody in connection with this case, together with the candidates detained.
‘Stalled progress of state’
Representing the CBI, advocate S Nayak argued that not only are the petitioners prima facie involved in this case, but they have also stalled the recruitment examination for the post of sub-inspector and Group C post.
He added that the accused are prima facie responsible for stalling the progress of the state, affecting the general public.
It was emphasised that the recruitment examination was cancelled twice because of the action of the petitioners, and it definitely corrodes the trust of the general public in the system.
‘Falsely implicated’
One of the counsels of the petitioners, advocate B R Tripathy, argued that there is, in fact, no prima facie case against the petitioners and they are falsely implicated in this case.
It was added that, however, the investigation had been completed with petitioners remaining in custody for around seven to eight months, their bail applications should be considered sympathetically.
The court held that the allegations disclose a crime against society of significant magnitude, which cannot be accepted in any way. (AI-generated image) 
Justice G Satapathy noted that the chargesheet has already been submitted and the petitioners have been in custody for some time.
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