The Punjab and Haryana High Court has stayed the appointment process for the posts of 454 Pharmacy Officers over allegations of a paper leak in the recruitment. The examination for which was held on July 19th , this year. The posts were advertised by Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot. The next hearing of the case has been scheduled on September 17.

 

The stay orders of Punjab and Haryana High Court have come amid a political storm over the examination. Within a few hours of the alleged paper leak through high-tech pen cameras and other instruments, Punjab Police claimed to have busted an interstate cheating racket after its crackdown across 25 examination centres in three districts – Faridkot, Kotkapura and Ferozepur. The police arrested seven key conspirators and 28 candidates who were directly involved in this case.  

 

Since then, the Punjab government had been maintaining that the incident involved high-tech cheating rather than a conventional paper leak. However, this distinction has now become a major political flashpoint.

 

Opposition parties including BJP, Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal have targeted the Aam Aadmi Party government and its leadership including the Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann for attempting to downplay the alleged paper leak as a minor cheating case. The opposition party leaders are demanding accountability.