AA Edit | BRS must answer for leak

The Telangana state police have arrested BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar in utmost haste, past midnight, accusing him of being a principal conspirator in a SSC exam paper leak. There have been a series of paper leaks in the state, starting with the Telangana state public service commission, whose leaked papers have put the careers and future of lakhs of students in jeopardy.

The Class X exams, which are taken by over half a million students, and their parents and teachers have experienced lots of doubt, anxiety and stress in the last few days when two papers — Telugu and Hindi language — were found to have leaked in two days. The BRS government, which was feeling the heat of public anger on the issue, has found it an easy ploy to distract attention from their own responsibility and failures.

The final responsibility of the safety of question papers, that of the answer sheets submitted by students and the subsequent process till results are announced is the responsibility of the BRS government. They have failed. Blaming the Opposition leader and effecting a dramatic arrest will not serve the purpose of either cleansing the overall process or giving confidence to students, parents, teachers and the general public.

Bandi Sanjay has been remanded to judicial custody and will apply to courts for bail, but is now occupying the political centrestage post his arrest, which comes just a few days before the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Hyderabad.

Legal experts have already pointed out the flaws and loopholes in the remand report. It is, of course, within the powers of the police to register cases, and for the parties accused to submit to the process of law while the courts take a decision. But amidst all this politicking, let us hope that justice is done to students who deserve that the integrity of the exams ahead is not compromised.