The fake topper scandal accused is all set to be shifted to remand home from Beur central jail in Patna after vigilance court observed that “she is a minor”. The court on Monday passed the order after going through her admit card and matric certificate which mentioned her date of birth as November 15, 1998.
The petition, challenging her arrest and charges levelled against her, was filed on Thursday by an organisation called Prayas. According to her lawyer K.D. Mishra, “we have moved another petition in the court seeking show cause notice against the police and the SIT for arresting the minor girl without verifying her age.”
He said she is 17 years, 3 months and 9 days old as per her matric certificate and admit card and that she cannot be sent to jail. The court also directed the authorities to hand over all her files to Juvenile Justice Board. Lawyer K.D. Mishra said, “We are also preparing to apply for her bail.”
The girl, a student of Vishun Rai College, who had scored 444 out of 500 marks in humanities, was arrested by the SIT on June 25 after she failed in her re-examination held in Patna.
The toppers scandal case had rocked the state last month after a video showed her calling political science as “prodigal science” and describing it as a subject that teaches cooking.
So far, the SIT has arrested 20 people, including former BSEB chairman Lalkeshwar Singh, his wife Usha Sinha, former BSEB secretary Harihar Nath Jha and mastermind Bacha Rai in connection with the scandal.
