You are destroying the entire system of public examinations, the Supreme Court on Monday told an accused, who allegedly used a proxy person to appear for him in the CTET examination in Uttar Pradesh in December 2024.
"Munna Bhai andar rehna chahiye (Munnabhai should remain inside)," a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta observed in an apparent reference to Bollywood movie "Munna Bhai MBBS".
In the 2003 movie, actor Sanjay Dutt played the character of Munna Bhai who used another person to appear for him in the medical examination.
"You are destroying the entire system of public examinations. There are a number of candidates who suffer because of such people," the bench said.
The counsel appearing for the petitioner said three people were chargesheeted in the case and two of them were granted bail.
He said the purported "solver", who appeared as a proxy candidate in the case, was also granted bail.
The bench issued notice to Uttar Pradesh seeking its response on the plea challenging the Allahabad High Court's order denying bail to the petitioner and posted the matter for hearing after four weeks.
The petitioner and others were booked on a complaint filed by a school principal for the alleged offences under the provisions of the BNS and the Uttar Pradesh Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act.
It was alleged that the exam was conducted on December 15, 2024 at the school and an information was received about a suspicious candidate.
On being re-examined, his biometric did not match and it was found that another person was appearing in the exam in place of petitioner Sandeep Singh Patel by using a fake admit card.
Before the high court, the petitioner had claimed that he was falsely implicated in the case and on the day of the examination, he was medically unfit and was admitted in a hospital.
The petitioner had also claimed in the high court that he was unaware that on his behalf, any other person had appeared in the examination.
"When a solver appears in someone's place in any examination, it undermines the integrity of the educational system and has serious implications for society," the high court said while dismissing his bail plea.