The Supreme Court of India has granted bail to four accused persons in the alleged Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission (PSC) paper leak case, observing that the trial had not commenced and the petitioners had been in custody since January 12, 2025.
A Bench comprising Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Prasanna B. Varale passed the order in the matter arising out of the Chhattisgarh High Court’s rejection of bail in April 2025.
The petitioners comprising a Sub-Registrar in the Commercial Tax Department, his daughter-in-law, and two nephews of a co-accused were among those arrested in connection with FIR dated July 9, 2024, registered by the CBI. The Court was informed that sanction to prosecute the then Chairman of the Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission had not yet been obtained.
The Bench took note that charges had not been framed, the trial had not started, and 62 witnesses were proposed to be examined. The petitioners were stated to be beneficiaries of the leaked question papers rather than participants in the actual leakage.
In view of the prolonged incarceration and the stage of the proceedings, the Supreme Court deemed it appropriate to enlarge the accused persons on bail, subject to conditions to be fixed by the trial court, including the surrender of passports and a direction not to leave the country without prior court approval.
The Special Leave Petitions were accordingly disposed of, along with all pending applications.
Appearances:
Petitioner: Mr. Rahul Kaushik, Sr. Adv.; Mr. Arjun Garg, AOR; Ms. Sagun Srivastava, Adv.; Ms. Muskan Bensla, Adv.; Ms. Sakshi Garg, Adv.; Mr. Siddharth Luthra, Sr. Adv.; Mr. Aakash Nandolia, AOR; Mr. Saaransh Shukla, Adv.; Mr. Aayush Garg, Adv.; Mr. Karl P. Rustomkhan, Adv.; Mr. Parv Arora, Adv.; Mr. Siddharth Aggarwal, Sr. Adv.; Mr. Gaurav Agrawal, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Manohar Pratap, AOR; Mr. Shashank Mishra, Adv.; Mr. Karan Dhalla, Adv.; Mr. Vikrant Baniwal, Adv.; Ms. Arsiya Ghose, Adv.; Ms. Vismita Diwan, Adv.
Respondent: Mr. Rajkumar Bhaskar Thakare, A.S.G.; Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR; Mr. Rishikesh Haridash, Adv.; Mr. Bhuvan Kapoor, Adv.; Mr. Ishaan Sharma, Adv.; Mr. Aakash Nandolia, AOR; Mr. Arjun Garg, AOR
