Srinagar, Apr 25: Mushtaq Ahmad Peer, the former chairman of the Board of Professional Entrance Examination (BOPEE) who allegedly engineered the Common Entrance Test (CET) 2012 scam has been sentenced to five years imprisonment and fined Rs 1 crore while as the broker Sajad Ahmad Bhat has also been awarded five years jail and rupees 50 lakh fine by a trial court here while announcing its verdict.
A lawyer associated with the case said that while accused including Peer were present, the special judge anti-corruption announced the verdict today. He said besides BOPEE chairman and the broker, the anti-corruption court convicted 43 persons while seven persons were acquitted in connection with the case.
The beneficiary students have been sentenced one-year imprisonment, he added.
A top crime branch official also confirmed the announcing of the judgment and subsequently the imprisonment of the former chairman and the broker.
He also said that 43 persons were convicted, seven others were acquitted and the student beneficiaries sentenced one-year imprisonment by the special court.
Peer was arrested on 23 November 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 other persons 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. Among them include beneficiary students and parents besides the brokers.
The government has insisted that Peer was sole custodian and trustee of the question papers for CET-2012. It said that he was found to have abused his official position by making the sale of question papers along with answer key prior to conducting of examination and conferred the undue benefit upon the beneficiaries, resulting in the selection of undeserving candidates for MBBS. Many witnesses have been examined by the court.
The high court granted bail to Peer 24 May last year. 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 He had also withdrawn appeal before Supreme Court against the rejection of his application by the high court. (With inputs from GNS)
