Garhwal Post Bureau
Nainital, 16 Oct: The Uttarakhand High Court today heard the bail plea of Hakam Singh, who has been arrested in connection with the UKSSSC paper leak case, and sought the Government’s response on the matter. The State Government, through its counsel, requested two weeks’ time to file its objection, which was granted by the Court. The matter was heard by the Single Bench of Justice Alok Kumar Verma, who fixed November 10 as the next date of hearing.
In his petition, Hakam Singh contended that he had been falsely implicated in the case and urged the Court to grant him bail. The Government, on its part, submitted that it required additional time to prepare a detailed reply and register its objection to the petition. Justice Verma accepted the request and adjourned the hearing accordingly.
It may be recalled that Hakam Singh Rawat, identified as the alleged mastermind of the UKSSSC paper leak racket, was arrested in a joint operation by the Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) and the Dehradun Police just a day before the Graduate Level Examination. IG Nilesh Anand Bharne had then disclosed that the accused had demanded Rs 15 lakhs each from six candidates to facilitate cheating during the examination. Acting upon credible inputs, the STF and Dehradun Police had laid a trap and had apprehended Hakam Singh along with one of his associates.
Following his arrest, the authorities had expressed confidence that the examination would proceed peacefully and in a fair manner. However, even before the examination concluded on 21 September, several questions from the paper went viral on social media platforms, triggering outrage among aspirants and opposition leaders. The viral leak led to widespread protests by unemployed youth across the State, with demonstrators demanding strict action against those responsible.
The incident forced the Government to act swiftly. Amid mounting pressure, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami not only ordered a Judicial Inquiry, SIT and later CBI inquiry into the matter, but also ultimately cancelled the UKSSSC Graduate Level Examination.
It may further be reminded here that Hakam Singh was arrested earlier too in a similar case related to paper leak in UKSSSC examination and is currently on bail in that case.
