Common Entrance Test scam: 16 years in jail for ex-chairman of Jammu and Kashmir exam board

SRINAGAR: A special anti-corruption court here sentenced Mushtaq Ahmad Peer, the former chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Board of Professional Entrance Examination (BOPEE), to a total of 16 years of rigorous imprisonment for his involvement in the 2012 Common Entrance Test (CET) scam.

It also imposed a fine of Rs 1 crore on Peer and Rs 50 lakh on another accused, Sajad Ahmad Bhat, who was acting as a broker in the scam.

The court sentenced Peer to seven years of rigorous imprisonment under section 420 of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC), five years of imprisonment under section 5 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, three years of imprisonment under section 409 of the RPC and one year of imprisonment under section 120B of the RPC.

It ordered that all the sentences would run "consecutively".

The court convicted 43 accused, including Peer, in the case, while it acquitted seven others.

In its 382-page order, the court said, "Mushtaq Peer, being at the helm of affairs as chairman of the board, occupied the top position, which he had abused to the fullest by orchestrating the criminal conspiracy for putting on sale the question papers, the secrecy of which he was under obligation to maintain.

"This dastardly crime is his brainchild and it would not have been possible for others to have even a glimpse of the question papers had he not defied the state."

It observed that scams like these contributed to the large-scale brain drain from the state and other law-and-order problems and said, "Therefore, this accused deserves no leniency at all.

Peer was arrested on November 23, 2014 by the Crime Branch.

During the investigation, it had come to light that Peer, in connivance with the other accused, had sold the CET 2012 examination papers, along with the answer keys, to some candidates for Rs 60 lakh.

The court directed that Peer, who is on bail since May last year, and the other accused be taken into custody.