New Delhi: The Patna High Court on Friday granted the CBI custody of 13 persons arrested by the Bihar Police in connection with the NEET-UG paper leak case.
The central investigation agency will now be able to question the accused in custody and also confront them with kingpin Rockey alias Rakesh Ranjan, who was arrested on Thursday.
The agency had requested custody of the 13 individuals, arrested by the state police, who were subsequently sent to judicial custody after a brief period of police remand.
The CBI plea was rejected by the exclusive CBI magistrate in Patna on July 2 on the grounds that the legal deadline for seeking police custody within the first 15 days of arrest had elapsed.
The CBI challenged the order in the High Court saying it had launched an investigation in June and should be given an opportunity to examine the suspects arrested by the state police.
The central agency had said that the accused arrested by the state police had not even spent 15 days in police custody.
According to sources, the accused were in the custody of Patna police and Economic Crimes Units of Bihar police for only two to four days and were sent to judicial custody.
The CBI argued that it may be granted custody of these accused for the remaining period of their police remand, which could be 11 to 13 days, granted by the High Court.
"Considering the seriousness of the case and in the interest of justice, the execution of the order... passed by the Exclusive Magistrate... shall be stayed," Justice Sandeep Kumar held.
Justice Kumar directed the exclusive magistrate to grant custody of the 13 accused to the CBI on Friday itself.
"The Exclusive Magistrate, CBI, Patna will grant remand to the CBI by submitting the web copy of the order. The Superintendent of Beur Central Jail, Patna/any other jail in which the respondents are in custody will grant custody... to the CBI today and will hand over the accused to the CBI and will not delay the handover of the accused for any reason," he said.
The CBI, which is probing the alleged irregularities in the medical entry examination, has so far registered six FIRs in the matter with nearly 57 arrests, of which 12 were made by the central agency and the rest by various state police forces. So far, 22 people have been granted bail.
The Bihar FIR relates to document leaks, while those registered in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra are related to candidate impersonation and fraud.
The agency's own FIR, based on a reference from the Union Education Ministry, refers to a "thorough investigation" into the alleged irregularities in the examination.
NEET-UG is conducted by the National Testing Agency for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions.
This year, the exam was held on May 5 at 4,750 centers in 571 cities, 14 of them abroad. More than 23 lakh candidates appeared for the test.
The central investigation agency will now be able to question the accused in custody and also confront them with kingpin Rockey alias Rakesh Ranjan, who was arrested on Thursday.
The agency had requested custody of the 13 individuals, arrested by the state police, who were subsequently sent to judicial custody after a brief period of police remand.
The CBI plea was rejected by the exclusive CBI magistrate in Patna on July 2 on the grounds that the legal deadline for seeking police custody within the first 15 days of arrest had elapsed.
The CBI challenged the order in the High Court saying it had launched an investigation in June and should be given an opportunity to examine the suspects arrested by the state police.
The central agency had said that the accused arrested by the state police had not even spent 15 days in police custody.
According to sources, the accused were in the custody of Patna police and Economic Crimes Units of Bihar police for only two to four days and were sent to judicial custody.
The CBI argued that it may be granted custody of these accused for the remaining period of their police remand, which could be 11 to 13 days, granted by the High Court.
"Considering the seriousness of the case and in the interest of justice, the execution of the order... passed by the Exclusive Magistrate... shall be stayed," Justice Sandeep Kumar held.
Justice Kumar directed the exclusive magistrate to grant custody of the 13 accused to the CBI on Friday itself.
"The Exclusive Magistrate, CBI, Patna will grant remand to the CBI by submitting the web copy of the order. The Superintendent of Beur Central Jail, Patna/any other jail in which the respondents are in custody will grant custody... to the CBI today and will hand over the accused to the CBI and will not delay the handover of the accused for any reason," he said.
The CBI, which is probing the alleged irregularities in the medical entry examination, has so far registered six FIRs in the matter with nearly 57 arrests, of which 12 were made by the central agency and the rest by various state police forces. So far, 22 people have been granted bail.
The Bihar FIR relates to document leaks, while those registered in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra are related to candidate impersonation and fraud.
The agency's own FIR, based on a reference from the Union Education Ministry, refers to a "thorough investigation" into the alleged irregularities in the examination.
NEET-UG is conducted by the National Testing Agency for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions.
This year, the exam was held on May 5 at 4,750 centers in 571 cities, 14 of them abroad. More than 23 lakh candidates appeared for the test.
