Court rejects bail plea of accused

Vadodara: The Panchmahal sessions court in Godhra on Friday rejected the bail petition of Jay Jalaram School principal Purshottam Sharma who is accused in NEET attempt-to-copy scam unearthed on May 5. Sharma was also the city coordinator for the NEET examination.Sharma had sought regular bail from the sessions court. His lawyer had argued that he was not involved in the irregularities case. It was contended that the papers were brought from a bank locker in trunks with digital lockers as per the procedure.Sharma’s counsel also argued that the digital lockers could be opened only remotely and were connected to satellites. It was also pointed out that the exam was conducted under CCTV surveillance.The bail was, however, objected on the grounds that there was sufficient evidence against the accused. Public prosecutor stated that there were CCTV footage of meetings between Sharma and two other accused, Tushar Bhatt and Arif Vahora, before and after the exams.Sessions judge CK Chauhan rejected the bail plea and noted that while dealing with the present burning issue, the Supreme Court had also observed that the slightest negligence on the part of anyone should be dealt with thoroughly.“Imagine a person who has played fraud with the system becomes a doctor and a person who is the principal of an education institution is a part of such fraud which would be deleterious to the society. If the competition is not fair, there remains no option for the hardworking poor middle-class students hailing from small towns who put their everything at stake to fulfil their dreams,” the order states. It also highlighted the danger posed by candidates who might become doctors through fraudulent means.Meanwhile, the Panchamahal police clarified that the Godhra racket was not related to the ongoing NEET controversy. The racket was busted on May 5 when the district collector got a tip-off about irregularities at the Godhra centre. The raid by the district education officer (DEO) found a list of students from the teacher Tushar Bhatt who were to be "helped." They also found a Whatsapp conversation on his phone with Vadodara-based foreign education consultant Parshuram Roy. When his car was searched, Rs seven lakh cash was found. Later investigation revealed the names of now suspended BJP functionary Arif Vahora and that they were charging Rs 10 lakh per student for helping them. Cheques were also found at Roy's office and residence.Till now, five people have been arrested in this case. This includes a man named Anand Vibhor, a native of Bihar living in Maneja, who was tasked with getting students students to Roy.