The Supreme Court on Thursday cancelled the conditional bail given to Bachcha Rai, the main accused in Bihar Board toppers’ scam, by the Patna High Court, ANI reported. Rai was arrested in June 2016 after he had surrendered before the Bihar police. The apex court said Rai should not be released from the jail right now, The Times of India reported.
In February this year, the Patna High Court had decided that Rai would get bail if a lower court did not make a decision on him within a month. The Nitish Kumar government had moved the Supreme Court against this order and sought cancellation of Rai’s conditional bail.
He is currently lodged in the jail along with the other accused in the scam – the former Chairman of the Bihar School Examination Board Lalkeshwar Singh and his wife Usha Sinha. Bachcha Rai, alias Amit Kumar, is the Secretary-cum-Principal of the college, which several of the state toppers had attended. Rai is also a known supporter of the Rashtriya Janata Dal.
Another accused in the scam, Diwakar Prasad, was found dead at his home in Panchwati Nagar in December last year. Prasad used to own a printing press in Patna, which was raided in connection with the case. A few stacks of answer sheets had been confiscated from the premises.
The Rs 8-crore Bihar School Examination Board tender scam surfaced after news channels aired interviews with examination toppers, whose incorrect answers to questions related to their subjects exposed a nexus of corruption. The education board had cancelled the results of arts topper Ruby Rai and science topper Saurabh Sresth and asked all 14 top-scorers to appear for a re-test.
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