Patna HC orders to preserve CCTV footage of 70th BPSC exam

A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ashutosh Kumar and Justice Parth Sarthi heard the petition filed by Anand Legal Aid Forum Trust.

The court has granted time to the applicant’s advocate to respond to the counter affidavit filed by the state government and BPSC.

The High Court had previously asked the state government and BPSC to respond to concerns raised in the petition.

The court also emphasised that the CCTV footage must be safeguarded.

The Anand Legal Aid Forum Trust initially approached the Supreme Court, but the apex court declined to hear the case, directing the petitioners to file the matter in the Patna High Court.

Following this, the petition was filed in the Patna High Court, where the case is currently under consideration.

Earlier, 14 petitions were filed in the Patna High Court demanding the cancellation and re-conduct of the 70th BPSC PT exam. The court merged all petitions into a single case.

On January 16, a single bench of Justice Arvind Singh Chandel heard a separate petition filed by Pappu Kumar and others regarding the BPSC exam process.

The bench had asked BPSC and the state government to file affidavits in their reply. They filed the reply on January 31. The bench declined to stay the declaration of exam results but ruled that the final outcome of the case would determine the validity of the BPSC PT results.

The directive to preserve CCTV footage is a significant move to ensure transparency in the BPSC examination process amid allegations of irregularities.

The next hearing of this case is scheduled for February 28. It will be crucial in deciding the fate of the examination results.