Delhi court grants bail to ITBP Recruitment Paper leak case accused; says "no need for further custodial interrogation"

New Delhi [India], December 23 (ANI): A Delhi court on Tuesday granted bail to one of the accused in the alleged paper leak case connected with recruitment examinations of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), observing that no further custodial interrogation was required and that the trial was likely to take considerable time.
The order was passed by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, South-East District, Saket Courts. The accused, Dharmender, had been in judicial custody since September 25, 2025.
Appearing for the accused, Advocate Yugant Sharma and Hardik Sharma contended that Dharmender had been falsely implicated in the case and was being projected as a "key person" responsible for leaking the question paper, without any substantive material to support such an allegation.
The counsel argued that the investigation was complete, the chargesheet had already been filed, and no further custodial interrogation had been sought by the investigating agency.
Counsel further submitted that although several candidates were allegedly caught with the leaked question paper, none of those students were either made accused or even meaningfully investigated, despite their identities being known to the investigating agency.
It was argued that no effort had been made to trace the source of the alleged leak through the candidates themselves, which was essential to establish who actually leaked the paper.
The lawyers of the accused said that the prosecution case rested entirely on presumptions and conjectures, based primarily on disclosure statements of co-accused persons, without any substantive or independent evidence linking Dharmender to the alleged leakage.
Counsel submitted that the trial was bound to take a long time to conclude and that continued incarceration of the accused would be unjustified. Advocate Abhinav Jain also appeared along with Advocate Yugant Sharma.
Opposing the bail plea, the prosecution and the Investigating Officer argued that the allegations were serious in nature and expressed apprehension that the accused might abscond if released on bail.
After hearing both sides and perusing the record, the court noted that the investigating agency had not sought any further custodial interrogation of the accused. While acknowledging the gravity of the allegations, the court observed that the chargesheet had already been filed, the trial was likely to take a long time to conclude, and the accused had spent nearly three months in custody.
The court held that continued incarceration would serve no fruitful purpose at this stage and accordingly allowed the bail application, clarifying that no opinion was being expressed on the merits of the case.
Dharmender has been directed to be released on bail upon furnishing a personal bond of Rs 50,000 with one surety of the like amount. The court has further directed him to appear on every date of hearing, not to tamper with evidence or influence witnesses, and not to leave the country without prior permission of the court.
The case pertains to an alleged paper leak in recruitment examinations conducted for the ITBP, relating to the written test for the post of constables in the central armed forces. During the investigation, the police arrested five persons associated with a Kolkata-based private company that had been awarded the contract to conduct the recruitment examinations.
Among those arrested were three directors of the firm Indian Institute of Psychometry (IIP) Amitav Roy, Jaydeep Goswami and Subhendu Kumar Paul who were alleged to have evaded the police after a case of cheating and criminal conspiracy was registered against them. The company's consultant, Rohit Raj, and a printer, Dharmender Lal, were also taken into custody in connection with the alleged leak.
According to the police, the complaint was filed by an ITBP Commandant, who stated that IIP had been outsourced to manage the entire examination process. As per the contractual terms, the firm was responsible for setting and printing the question papers, conducting the examination, scanning and packaging examination material, and ensuring complete confidentiality at every stage of the process. (ANI)