No court relief for five Railway officials in RRB question paper leak case

By Yathiraju | Express News Service | Published: 02nd October 2017 

Image used for representational purpose.

BENGALURU: The Special Court for CBI cases has rejected the interlocutory applications filed by five officials of South Western Railway seeking to be discharged from a case registered against them by the central investigating agency. The CBI has filed chargesheet against them for allegedly leaking questions as well as key answers of the examination conducted by Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) for appointment of Assistant Loco Pilot, Telecommunication Operator Grade-III and Technician Grade-III.

The accused are Chief Loco Inspector Katta Narasimha Rao, Chief Superintendent C H Sanjeevappa, Office of the DyCE (Central), Construction Organisation, Senior Section Engineer H V Manjunath, Carriage and Wagon, Mechanical Department, B Hanumanthappa, then peon/driver, Dy CE Stores, Construction Organisation, Bengaluru division, and Superintendent Munigangaiah, Office of the Senior Section Engineer, Carriage and Wagon, South Western Railway.

While rejecting their applications on September 28, Principal Special Judge for CBI Cases, Sadashiva S Sultanpuri, said the accused have failed to establish that they are entitled to discharge. On the contrary, the prosecution has given enough reasons to frame charges against them for the offenses under Section 120(b) read with Section 420 of IPC and Section 13(2) and 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. 

The judge said, “...the accused, being public servants, have accepted illegal gratification from candidates appearing for the examination to provide question papers and key answer sheet. Thereby, they have not only cheated the candidates but also the RRB. They failed to protect the interests of their department and demoralized their institution.”

Statements of candidates recorded by CBI

Balakrishna

“Sri Katta Narasimha Rao offered me the question paper of the RRB examination held on June 29, 2014, the previous day. Rao had demanded `5 lakh for the question paper as well as the RRBI appointment, out of which, he demanded an advance of `1 lakh. He also told me that nobody is going to get the RRB appointment without paying money.”

Kiran Kumar

“Rao offered the question paper for the RRB Examination in advance for a total amount of `3.5 lakh, out of which he sought an advance of `2 lakh. One week before examination, me and my mother went to his house in Nandini Layout around 11 am. We handed over `2 lakh to Rao at his house. After about 15 days, Rao called me over my mobile phone and asked me to come and collect the money. Accordingly, me and my mother went to his house and collected `2 lakh from him.”