IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.11319 of 2025 Arising Out of PS. Case No.-6 Year-2024 Thana- C.B.I CASE District- Patna ====================================================== Md. Imtiyaz Alam @ Imtiyaz Alam, aged about 34 years, Male, Son of Md. Hakim Ansari, R/O- House No 46, Noora, Near Police Line Gate, P.S.- Hazaribagh Sadar (Lohsinghana) Dist.- Hazaribagh. (Jharkhand)-- 8255301 ... ... Petitioner Versus The CBI through ASP- CBI EO III, New Delhi ... ... Opposite Party ====================================================== Appearance : For the Petitioner : Mr. Surendra Kumar Singh, Advocate, Mr. Tulika Singh, Advocate and Mrs. Sudha Chandra, Advocate For the Opposite Party : Mr. Subodh Kumar Jha, Advocate ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE CHANDRA PRAKASH SINGH ORAL ORDER 6 04-07-2025 Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned counsel for the C.B.I. 2. The petitioner seeks bail in connection with Special Case No. 14 of 2024, arising out of Shastri Nagar P.S. Case No. 358 of 2024 which was registered as CBI Case No. RC- 221/2024/E0006/2024/RC06(S)/2024 registered for the offences punishable under Sections 407, 408, 409 and 120B of the I.P.C. 3. As per the prosecution case, on 05.05.2024, during patrolling, the informant got information from his senior officials that in the NEET Examination, 2024, an organized gang, some students and some examination conducting staffs, in collusion with one another have destroyed the integrity and Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.11319 of 2025(6) dt.04-07-2025 2/8 sanctity of the chain of custody of the question papers and leaked the question papers. He was also informed that some members of the organized gang were moving in a white colour Renault Duster Car around the examination centre. For the verification of the same, on checking, when he intercepted the white Duster Car bearing Registration No. JH01BW0019, and three people who were trying to escape, were caught on the spot who told their names as 1. Sikandar Yadvendu, 2. Akhilesh Kumar and 3. Bittu Kumar. On searching the car, four xerox copies of Admit Cards of four candidates, namely, Abhishek Kumar, Shivnandan Kumar, Aayush Raj and Anurag Yadav were recovered from the shelf of the front seat and two mobile phones were recovered from the pocket of Sikandar Yadvendu. On interrogation regarding the question papers, he told that some of his students are appearing in the examination at the various centres whose setting were managed by Sanjeev Singh, Rocky, Nitesh and Amit Anand. They had taken some of the students to memorize the answers of the NEET question papers. After informing the same to his officials, when he reached DAV Public School, BSEB Colony and verified about Ayush Raj, he came to know that he is in Room No. 18. After the examination got over, on interrogation of Ayush Raj, he told the informant Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.11319 of 2025(6) dt.04-07-2025 3/8 that he was taken to Learn Boys Hostel and Learn Play School, a night before the examination and was handed over the question papers and the answer sheets and was asked to memorize alongwith 20-25 other students. On searching the student, NEET Admit Card, Test booklet, Aadhar Card, Pan Card, Passport Photo and Postcard were recovered from his possession. Thereafter, the informant prepared the seizure list and on the basis of his self statement, the present case has been instituted. 4. Learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that the petitioner is innocent and has falsely been implicated in this case. The petitioner is not named in the F.I.R. His name has surfaced in the present case on the basis of suspicion by the CBI at belated stage without any connecting material, valid, cogent and reliable/legal evidence against the petitioner. There is no specific allegation against the petitioner. The petitioner is a mediator. It is further submitted that the petitioner is suffering from various diseases such as sugar, hypertension and high cholesterol to which the petitioner is an old and chronic patient for which he is being treated. The petitioner has no concern with the alleged offence. It is further submitted that the entire allegations that the 2024 NEET (UG) question papers leaked Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.11319 of 2025(6) dt.04-07-2025 4/8 from the Oasis School, Hazaribagh, Jharkhand is the outcome of the civil design created by the CBI. It is further submitted that the case is triable by the Magistrate. It is submitted that the other co-accused person, namely, Pankaj Kumar @ Aditya @ Sahil, has already been granted bail by a Bench of this Court in Cr. Misc. No. 9546 of 2025 vide order dated 15.05.2025. The petitioner has clean antecedent as stated in paragraph no. 3 of the bail petition. He is in custody in this case since 29.06.2024. 5. Learned counsel for the C.B.I. has vehemently opposed the bail petition of the petitioner. Learned counsel for the C.B.I. has filed a counter affidavit dated 18.03.2025 and he further refers to paragraph nos. 13 and 14 of the said counter affidavit. In paragraph no. 13 of the said counter affidavit, it has been mentioned that the investigation has revealed that the criminal conspiracy to commit theft and leakage of the NEET UG 2024 question paper was orchestrated by the accused persons including the co-accused Amit Kumar Singh (A-41), Pankaj Kumar @ Aditya @ Sahil, Raju Singh (A-20), Dr. Ahsanul Haque (A-16), Imitiyaz Alam (A-17) and Jamaluddin (A-18). Dr. Ahsanul Haque (A-16) was the principal of the Oasis School, Hazaribagh and Imtiyaz Alam (A-17) (petitioner) was working as Vice Principal in this school. In paragraph no. 14 of Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.11319 of 2025(6) dt.04-07-2025 5/8 the said counter affidavit, it has been mentioned that the investigation has further disclosed that 8:02:11, Pankaj Kumar @ Aditya @ Sahil (A-20) exited the staff room and entered the control room through the second door. He utilized the toolkit bag that had been placed there on 03.05.2024 by Imtiyaz Alam (A-17) (petitioner), as previously mentioned. Twenty-four question papers from Sl. No. 6136465 to 6136488 were packed together in the packet number 38990. Thereafter, this packet number 38990 alongwith packet number 38988 and 38989 were kept together in the bunch number 13560. Four of these bunch numbers that is 13560-13563, were kept together in a single trunk number 13093. The Oasis School had received two trunks that is 13092 and 13093. Using the tools in the toolkit, Pankaj Kumar opened the steel trunk by manipulating the backside hinges and removed one bunch of 72 booklets, organized into three separate packets, each containing 24 booklets. From these, he selected one packet and took out the last booklet, number 6136488. He proceeded to cut the plastic cover of the booklet using a cutter and opened the paper seal with the aid of a pencil. Therefore, the question paper number 6136488 was stolen by cutting the trunk number 13093 then cutting the bunch number 13560 then cutting the packet number 38990. Subsequently, he Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.11319 of 2025(6) dt.04-07-2025 6/8 photographed all the pages of the booklet, except for the first and last sheets, using his mobile phone. During the process of opening the trunk, the plastic strips that were tied around the box fell on the floor, which Pankaj Kumar @ Aditya @ Sahil promptly picked up and placed inside the toolkit bag. After completing this act, he resealed the booklet, put it inside the plastic packet and then put the packet inside the bunch, and then put back the entire bunch into the steel trunk. He proceeded to repack the trunk and repositioned it on the table in the same manner as it was originally found. However, in the process, the table cover became disturbed, an occurrence that is clearly visible in the camera recordings. Thereafter, he concealed the toolkit bag near the almirah. It is pertinent to note that the entire sequence of opening and resealing the trunk was re-enacted by the accused Pankaj Kumar, during his custody at the CBI office, and this re-enactment was duly videographed. 6. Lastly, learned counsel for the C.B.I. has submitted that in view of the submissions made above, the prayer for bail application of the petitioner may kindly be rejected in the interest of justice and ongoing further investigation under Section 173(8) of the Cr.P.C. 7. Considering the aforesaid facts and circumstances of Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.11319 of 2025(6) dt.04-07-2025 7/8 the case as well as the period of custody and the fact that other similarly situated co-accused persons have been granted bail, the petitioner, above named, is directed to be enlarged on bail on furnishing bail bond of Rs. 20,000/- (Rupees Twenty Thousand) with two sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of learned Exclusive Magistrate, C.B.I., Patna in connection with Special Case No. 14 of 2024, arising out of Shastri Nagar P.S. Case No. 358 of 2024 which was registered as CBI Case No. RC-221/2024/E0006/2024/RC06(S)/2024 with further conditions:- I. One of the bailors shall be a close relative of the petitioner who shall give genealogy as to how he is related to the petitioner. II. The petitioner is directed to remain physically present before the learned court below on each and every date, failing which on two consecutive dates without reasonable cause, the bail bonds of the petitioner are liable to be cancelled. III. The petitioner shall not intimidate and/or influence the witnesses by inducement, fraud or promise. Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.11319 of 2025(6) dt.04-07-2025 8/8 IV. The petitioner shall not leave the territory of India without permission of the court and shall hand over the passport, if any, to the C.B.I. 8. The application stands allowed. U.K./- (Chandra Prakash Singh, J) U T