Former chairman Mushtaq Peer sentenced to five years imprisonment, 1 crore fine
Broker given five year jail term, 50 lakh fine; 43 people convicted
Srinagar: Mushtaq Ahmad Peer, the former chairman of the Board of Professional Entrance Examination (BOPEE) who was accused of engineering the Common Entrance Test (CET) 2012 scam, has been convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment, and fined Rs 1 crore.
The broker Sajad Ahmad Bhat has also been given five years jail and RS 50 lakh fine, by a trial court while announcing the verdict.
The judge at the special anti-corruption court announced the verdict today. The lawyer associated with the case said that besides the BOPEE chairman and the broker, the anti-corruption court convicted 43 persons, while seven persons were acquitted.
The beneficiary students have been sentenced one-year imprisonment, he added.
Peer was arrested on November 23, 2014 by the crime branch after the investigation revealed that he had sold the CET-2012 papers along with answer keys for Rs 60 lakhs.
Peer was charge-sheeted along with more than fifty others, in the case (FIR 24/2013 Under Section 420, 120B RPC, 5(2)d r/w (5(2) PC Act) registered at Police Station, Crime Branch, which include beneficiary students and parents.
The government has insisted that Peer was the sole custodian and trustee of the question papers for CET-2012.
Peer was found to have abused his official position by making the sale of question papers along with answer keys prior to conducting of examination and conferred the undue benefit upon the beneficiaries, resulting in the selection of undeserving candidates for MBBS.
The high court and the trial court had earlier rejected several bail applications by Peer given the gravity and seriousness of the offense committed by him. He had also withdrawn appeal before the Supreme Court against the rejection of his application by the high court.
(With inputs from GNS)
