Kerala High Court Denies Anticipatory Bail To MS Solutions Founder Shuhaib Booked For Leaking Class 10 Question Paper On YouTube

The Kerala High Court on Thursday (March 6) dismissed the anticipatory bail petition of Shuhaib, the founder and CEO of MS Solution and accused of leaking State Board Class 10 Question Papers through his YouTube channel.

Shuhaib had argued that he had only predicted probable questions, based on the previous question papers. Justice P. V. Kunhikrishnan pronounced the order today, thereby obliterating the interim relief against arrest granted on February 20.

Earlier, the Court had orally remarked that the incident has raised doubt in the minds of the student community and it needs to be ruled out. 

The Court while dismissing the petition, specifically noted that the petitioner had predicted Question No. 18 to 26 of the English exam in the same order as in the question paper. The Court observed that experts in the field have given statements to the Investigating Officer saying that such a prediction is impossible unless the petitioner had access to the question papers.

As per the Court's earlier directions, the petitioner had appeared before the investigating officer. However, the prosecution submitted that they are unsatisfied with the explanation given by the petitioner and custodial interrogation was necessary. The Court said that it had no expertise to decide if the question papers were leaked. However, taking note that the prosecution requires a custodial interrogation, the Court granted the same. The Court further observed that since a prima facie case is made out, giving anticipatory bail at this stage will give a wrong message to the society.

The Court remarked that leakage of question paper is like cheating a section of students.

"If there is any leakage of question papers to the benefit of any section of students, it is nothing but cheating of the other section of students who worked hard day and night preparing for the examination. Leakage of question paper can have a significant effect on the examination process, candidates and the education department conducting the examination. It will lead to the lose of credibility to the Education Department, anxiety and stress to the student community and unfair advantage to candidates who have access to leaked question papers. Leakage of question paper is a clear case of cheating against the student community who studied well and came to the examination hall to write their examinations with a 'finger cross'. Therefore, the sanctity of examination is to be maintained in the education system."

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