03 March,2017 08:37 AM IST | | Pallavi Smart
Mumbai division verifying if it can be termed a ‘leak’ because students were already in the exam halls by 10.30 am, before the paper leaked at 10.46 am
Pictures of the leaked paper being circulated over WhatsApp
The ongoing Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examination was hit with a paper leak on Thursday. The Marathi paper, scheduled for yesterday at 11 am, was leaked on WhatsApp barely 15 minutes before it began. Counting incidents from the past two years, this becomes the third such instance of a paper leak in the HSC exam. The previous paper leaks have been in the book-keeping subject from the commerce stream.
Verifying process on
Speaking to mid-day, SY Chandekar, secretary of the Mumbai division of Maharashtra state board, confirmed the leak and said, "We have received images of a few pages of today's question paper that were circulated on WhatsApp 14 minutes before the scheduled time of the paper. However, candidates are expected to enter exam classrooms 30 minutes before the exam, at 10.30 am. Now, we are in the process of verifying if question paper was available on WhatsApp at 10.46 am and if we should call it a paper leak." He added, "Once the verification is done, we will decide about filing a police complaint in the case after consulting with higher authorities." The said paper does not even have different sets, which clearly points to an issue much bigger than the leak.
Bring stringent rules
For the third time in a row, the whistleblower of the leak was the Mumbai Coaching Classes Association. Sachin Karnawat, president of the association said, "The last time when we disclosed the paper leak, we were subjected to four hours of questioning by the police. Yet, we are coming out again. All we want the authorities to do is bring stringent regulations against such in incidents. Lakhs of students are preparing for this important exam for the entire year and they should not suffer."
Leak group on WhatsApp
"We are helping the authorities to solve the major issue here. The board, instead of questioning us, should begin strict investigations in the case, which is happening for the third time," said MR Jariwala, former secretary of the association. Jariwala also said how there is allegedly a group on WhatsApp titled âPaper Leak', where question papers are leaked at the scheduled time of examination.
