Bail for Bandi Sanjay Kumar in SSC paper leak case

WARANGAL: After extensive arguments, Hanamkonda Principal Civil Judge Rapolu Anitha granted bail to BJP state chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar in the SSC question paper leakage on Thursday. Sanjay was arrested past midnight on Thursday and had been remanded to 14 days in judicial custody.

The BJP legal cell had filed the bail petition in the court in the afternoon. Warangal police filed a counter through the government advocate, urging the court to grant permission for taking Sanjay into custody. They said Sanjay could manipulate evidence if he was released on bail.

The court up took the case for hearing after lunch. After hearing the two sides for a total of about eight hours, the judge granted conditional bail to Sanjay with two sureties and Rs 20,000 as guarantee.

Earlier, the Telangana High Court had refused to suspend the judicial remand of  Sanjay. The court, however, issued notices to all the parties concerned and posted the matter to April 10.

On Sanjay’s request to grant bail, Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, who heard the lunch motion moved by the former, asked him to file a petition either at the local court or the High Court.

The HC was also not inclined to direct the trial court at Warangal to dispose of the bail petition on Thursday.

During hearings, the court wondered whether the incidents could be termed as leakage since the question paper was shared much after the exam had commenced.

On the state’s charges of Sanjay sharing the question paper in WhatsApp and issuing media statements, the CJ said there is nothing wrong in politicians trying to take advantage of such developments and politicise the issue. “Where is the name of A1 (Sanjay) in the FIR,” he asked Advocate General B.S. Prasad.

Earlier, representing Sanjay, senior advocate N. Ramchander Rao urged the court to consider the bail petition as his client had to attend important programmes, including those of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will be in Hyderabad on April 8. When he drew the court’s attention to three days of holidays from Friday, the Chief Justice said the HC would consider the bail petition in the form of a house motion.

The BJP Lok Sabha moved a petition on Thursday seeking quashing of the remand report and subsequent order by the local court remanding him to 14-day judicial custody. Maintaining that there were limitations to the High Court in giving orders with regard to quash petition, the CJ said notices should first be issued to all the parties concerned, including the complainant.

Accordingly, notices were issued to the state government and Maturi Shiva Prasad, headmaster of the government ZPHS school in Kamalapur village of Warangl district, who lodged the complaint against the paper leak.

Ramchander Rao, a former MLC, also submitted that the apex court in the Arnab Goswami case had directed the police to release the accused in a quash petition. He submitted that the apex court also made it clear in the Bheem Singh case that a member of the House can be given bail when the Parliament is in session.

The advocate general, while opposing the contentions raised by Ramchander Rao, informed that there is tangible electronic evidence of the MP with the accused. It is a conspiracy hatched by the accused and the MP to defame the government and the MP's endeavour in encouraging the accused to leak the SSC question paper and splash it on various social media platforms, clearly shows that this is a maligned intention of the petitioner to defame the government on all fronts. He should have handed over the mobile phone, if he had no part in the conspiracy, he said.

Meanwhile, another division bench comprising Justice Abhinand Kumar Shavili and Justice Pulla Karthik issued notices to the state government in a habeas corpus petition filed by Bhagyanagar BJP district president seeking release of  Sanjay Kumar and adjourned it to after four weeks.

Senior counsel L. Ravichander, appearing for the petitioner, sought an adjournment to Monday or Tuesday so that he could file judgments and argue on the ground that the habeas corpus petition won’t become infructuous after the detainee is produced before the magistrate.

Special counsel for the government Mujeeb Kumar Sadasivuni submitted to the bench that Sanjay was ordered to be remanded and the Chief Justice had given him the liberty to file the bail petition. So the habeas corpus petition would become infructuous, counsel submitted.

The court issued notice before its admission and adjourned it to after four weeks.