Railway Exam Paper Leak Case: Ex-Mumbai board chairman, other officials sentenced to 5 years in jail

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The Principal Special Judge for Central Bureau of Investigation cases in Hyderabad has pronounced a five-year rigorous imprisonment (RI) and imposed hefty fines totaling Rs. 7,87,000/- on ten persons, including the former Chairman of the Railway Recruitment Board, Mumbai, and the former CEO of Assan-Mangalore Rail Development Corporation in Railway Exam Paper Leak Case.

The ruling stems from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigation into Railway Exam Paper Leak Case in which officials were accused of leakage of examination papers for Assistant Station Master and Assistant Loco Pilot positions in 2010.

The verdict outlines the sentences for key accused, with Satendra Mohan Sharma, the former Chairman of the Railway Recruitment Board, Mumbai, receiving a five-year sentence and a fine of Rs. 1,75,000/-. A.K. Jagannadham, the former CEO of Assan-Mangalore Rail Development Corporation, also faces five years of RI, coupled with a fine of Rs. 1,31,000/-. Other convicted individuals, identified as agents involved in luring aspirants, have been sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment, facing fines ranging from Rs. 50,000/- to Rs. 75,000/-. These include Jagannadham Shareen Kumar, Jagannadham Ramesh, Jagannadham Tirupathaiah, Vivek Bharadwaj, P. Ashok Kumar, Mandarama Seshu Narayana Murthy, Shrirama Vijay Shankar, and Srujan Jagannadham.

The CBI had registered the case on June 15, 2010, against public servants and private individuals, alleging the leakage of question papers before the Railway Recruitment Board's examination scheduled for June 6, 2010. The conspiracy involved Sharma and Jagannadham collaborating with private individuals to leak question papers through agents, who received monetary payments ranging from Rs. 3.5 to Rs. 4 lakhs (approx).

As part of the conspiracy, the convicted agents lured aspirants nationwide, collecting varying amounts of money (Rs. 5,000/- to Rs. 1,50,000/- approx) and original qualification certificates from about 193 aspirants. These aspirants were then taken to Goa, Sholapur, and Nagpur, where they were tutored with the leaked question papers, deceiving genuine candidates and defrauding the Indian Railways for pecuniary gain.

The CBI's investigation included searches at the official and residential premises of the accused, leading to the recovery of approximately Rs. 36.9 lakh in cash. While fifteen accused were initially arrested during the investigation, they were later released on bail.

After filing a chargesheet against 15 accused on September 13, 2010, the CBI proceeded with the trial. The court convicted ten persons after finding them guilty. Four accused were acquitted, and one was abetted due to his death during the trial.