GSSSB Question Paper Leak 8th Such Incident in Gujarat

A Gujarat Subordinate Service Selection Board (GSSSB) exam to recruit 186 head clerks was cancelled this week after the question paper was leaked a day before the examination on December 12. All the 88,000 candidates would have to take the exam again in March next year. Noticeably, this is the eighth major leak of question papers in the state. 

The leak was unearthed when Yuvrajsinh Jadeja, vice-president, Aam Admi Party’s (AAP) youth wing of Gujarat, claimed to have evidence of the question paper having been leaked the night before the examination and sold in different parts of the state.

Subsequently, AR Vora, chairman, GSSSB, who is a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and the former mayor of Ahmedabad, denied the leak. “We still do not have any credible and authentic evidence to establish that the paper was leaked,” he told the media. 

Vora’s denial triggered protests by both the Congress and the AAP which forced the state government to launch a probe into the matter. “The examination was held in Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot and Jamnagar in a transparent manner. The Board has not yet received any complaint regarding a leak. A probe is being carried out by 15-18 police teams. If any evidence is found, stringent action will be taken against those involved,” Vora further said.

Five days later on December 17, the Gujarat government admitted that the question paper was leaked, and a first information report (FIR) was lodged against 11 persons at the Prantij Police Station of Sabarkantha district and eight of the accused were arrested under Sections 420 (cheating), 409 (criminal breach of trust) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

“Twenty-four police teams from Sabarkantha and Gandhinagar police have been formed to detect the crime and ensure that the accused do not flee,” state home minister Harsh Sanghavi told the media.

According to the FIR, one Jayesh Patel had got hold of the question paper and along with the other accused sold it to the candidates for Rs 10 lakh-Rs 15 lakh. 

Sixteen candidates who had received the question paper were subsequently divided into three groups and taken to three different locations near Prantij on December 11 to solve it. On the day of the exam, the accused arranged for transportation to drop these candidates to their respective exam centres, the FIR further states. 

The Gujarat Police is also investigating the role of another co-accused Mudresh Purohit, owner of Surya Press, an Ahmedabad-based printing press where the question paper was printed. “We are looking into the past record of Mudresh Purohit to find out if he was involved in other offences,” Ashish Bhatia, director general, Gujarat Police, said at a press conference. 

Purohit, a businessman with close links to the BJP, was granted anticipatory bail by the Gujarat High Court on December 22. The court also sought a reply from the state government and asked it to not take any coercive action against Purohit until the next hearing. 

In 2014, the question paper of Gujarat Public Service Commission examination for the recruitment of chief officer was leaked.

In 2015, the question paper of the Gujarat Panchayat Bharti Board for the recruitment of Talatis was leaked. And in 2016, the question paper of the exam for the recruitment of Talatis was leaked in Gandhinagar and Surendranagar.

In 2018, the question papers of four major recruitment examinations—Teachers Aptitude, Mukhya Sevika, Nayab Chitnis and Lok Rakshak Dal—were leaked.

The question paper of Lok Rakshak Dal examination, for the recruitment of 9,713 unarmed constables, was leaked an hour before the exam. More than8.7 lakh candidates from across the state who appeared for the exam were left stranded at 283 centres. The examination was rescheduled for January 2019, and several accused, including two BJP members from Gujarat and their associates from Delhi and Haryana, were arrested. 

In 2019, the question paper for the examination to recruit non-Secretariat clerks was leaked. Interestingly, the question paper was printed by Purohit-owned Surya Offset while Vora was the chairman of the board. 

Both the AAP and the Congress have demanded Vora’s resignation, action against him and a fair investigation. While the Congress staged a mock ‘Assembly’ in Gandhinagar as a mark of protest, the AAP members stormed the BJP headquarters in Gandhinagar after Vora denied the leak allegation.

The AAP protest led to the arrest of 93 party members, including state party president Gopal Italiya. All the arrested AAP members face charges under 22 Sections of the IPC, including criminal conspiracy, Sections of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984. Besides, 65 male AAP members who were arrested face charges of sexual harassment charges. The AAP leaders are on an indefinite fast for the past two days.