UP Board Exam Paper Leak: Ballia journalists’ bail plea rejected

Speaking to The Indian Express on Tuesday evening, Advocate Mithlesh Kumar Singh said, “We had applied for the bail of the three journalists in the lower court, but their application was rejected. We will file bail pleas for the three in a sessions court on Wednesday. Some of the sections invoked against my clients were bailable, while others are non-bailable. The lower court rarely gives bail in such cases.”

However, the police are yet to invoke the National Security Act against the three. The same was confirmed by Assistant Prosecution Officer (APO) Kripa Shankar, who appeared on behalf of the state, during the bail hearing in the lower court on Tuesday and the journalists’ lawyer. The state government had earlier announced that it would charge the accused in the paper leak case under NSA.

In the past several cases of paper leaks, the UP government has invoked the NSA against the accused.

Police can move an application to invoke the NSA during the course of a probe or during bail hearings.

Till now, 52 persons have been arrested in connection with the paper leak case that surfaced on March 30.

Apart from the three journalists, Ballia District Inspector Of Schools (DIOS) Brijesh Mishra and, several government and private schoolteachers have also been arrested in the case, police said.

Meanwhile, journalist associations in Ballia have alleged that the three journalists were “framed for reporting the paper leak”, while the police maintained that they were arrested on the “basis of their role” in the paper leak. Resident Editor of Amar Ujala’s Varanasi bureau Virendra had earlier told The Indian Express that during an internal probe, both Singh and Ojha were found to be “innocent”.

Journalists have been protesting to demand the suspension of Ballia District Magistrate Indra Vikram Singh and Superintendent of Police Raj Karan Nayyar since the three journalists were arrested.

The family members of the journalists have also appealed to the police for their release, while claiming that they are innocent. Ajit’s father Tej Narayan Ojha said that his son was arrested for doing the job of a journalist.

Digvijay Singh’s (65) daughter Preeti said, “My father wrote about the leak, and the administration was left red-faced, and hence, he was arrested. If the police have evidence against him, they should show it to us.”