Raipur:
The Chhattisgarh High Court has rejected the bail application of a retired IAS officer arrested by the CBI in the alleged Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission (CGPSC) recruitment scam, observing that leaking question papers of competitive examinations is “more heinous than murder” as it destroys the careers of lakhs of aspirants.
The accused, Jeevan Kishore Dhruv (62), who was serving as Secretary of the CGPSC when the alleged irregularities took place in 2020-2022 recruitment process, was arrested by the CBI in September 2025.
His son, Sumit Dhruv, who was selected as a deputy collector in the recruitment examination under investigation, is also an accused.
Justice Bibhu Datta Guru had reserved the order on Jeevan Kishore Dhruv’s bail plea on July 31. The order was pronounced on Wednesday.
“It is reiterated again, as observed while considering the bail applications of other accused persons in the crime in question, that a person who indulges in facilitating leakage of question paper relating to competitive examinations, plays with the career and future of lacs of young aspirants, who are ‘burning the midnight oil’ to prepare for competitive exams, such an act is more heinous than an offence of murder because by killing a person, only one family gets affected but by ruining the career of lacs of aspirants whole society is adversely impacted,” the HC observed.
Therefore, the charges against the accused persons can not be termed as ordinary, it said.
The court noted that prima facie the prosecution had collected material indicating that Dhruv, while serving as CGPSC Secretary, abused his official position by retaining confidential question papers of the 2021 Main Examination and supplying them to his son.
The prosecution had also gathered evidence suggesting Sumit Dhruv had practised four specific topics that subsequently appeared in the examination. Recoveries made from the applicant’s residence, statements of witnesses and documentary evidence also prima facie pointed to his involvement in the alleged conspiracy, the order said.
“Considering the specific role attributed to the applicant, the gravity of the allegations and their adverse impact on the sanctity of the public recruitment process, this Court is not persuaded to exercise its discretion in favour of the applicant,” the HC said.
During the hearing, Dhruv’s counsel, advocate Devershi Thakur, argued that he was falsely implicated solely because he was the CGPSC Secretary, and was not named in the original FIR.
He submitted that no incriminating documents or electronic devices, except a mobile phone, were recovered from Dhruv and there was no evidence to show that he leaked question papers or passed them on to his children.
The lawyer further argued that after learning that both his sons were candidates in the examination, Dhruv had informed the competent CGPSC authorities and sought to be relieved of all confidential work related to the recruitment process.
Official records showed he was, accordingly, assigned no confidential examination-related duties, the counsel said.
The defence also contended that allegations of favouritism were belied by the fact that one of Dhruv’s sons failed to qualify while the other secured a rank well below the top position.
Opposing the plea, CBI counsel Vaibhav A Goverdhan argued that the case involved large-scale irregularities that struck at the integrity of the public recruitment process and affected the confidence of thousands of candidates.
He submitted that Dhruv, along with the then CGPSC chairman, controller of examinations and other accused, entered into a criminal conspiracy to leak confidential question papers of the 2021 Main Examination, enabling his son to gain an illegal advantage.
The CBI claimed that copies of questions and answers relating to General Studies Paper VII and the Question-cum-Answer Booklet of the Essay paper were recovered during searches at Dhruv’s residence.
On the defence’s plea for parity, the CBI argued that the co-accused granted bail by the Supreme Court was a private individual, whereas Dhruv was a senior public servant entrusted with maintaining the secrecy and integrity of the examination process.
Former CGPSC chairman Taman Singh Sonwani, his nephews Nitesh Sonwani and Sahil Sonwani, former Deputy Controller of Examinations Lalit Ganvir, industrialist Shravan Kumar Goyal, his son Shashank Goyal and daughter-in-law Bhumika Katiyar are among those arrested in the case.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
