45 major paper leaks in 24 years, few top officials face action

5 min readNew DelhiJun 5, 2026 04:25 AM IST

Among the 45 major paper leak cases investigated by The Indian Express between 2002 and 2025, only a handful of officials holding key positions in examination bodies were removed or faced action — including one court conviction. They include:

2024 UGC NET: National Testing Agency D-G Subodh Kumar Singh was removed and placed on compulsory wait for nearly four months, then appointed Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Steel before being repatriated to his Chhattisgarh cadre. Singh did not respond to a request for comment.

2024 UPPSC: UP Public Service Commission Controller of Examinations Ajay Kumar Tiwari was removed amid allegations of negligence in the conduct of the preliminary exam for Review Officer and Assistant Review Officer posts. Police filed a chargesheet in July 2024 against 16 accused; the ED also took up the case. Twelve arrested accused obtained bail from the Allahabad High Court between June and September 2024. The matter is pending before a Prayagraj court. Tiwari declined to comment.

2024 UP Police Constables: UP Police Recruitment & Promotion Board Chairperson Renuka Mishra, a 1990-batch IPS officer of DGP rank, was removed and briefly placed on compulsory wait. She is presently attached to the DGP Office, UP. Mishra said she did not wish to “talk about the case”.

2023 Bihar Police Constables: Police recommended departmental action against retired D-G Sanjeev Kumar Singhal, who had headed the Central Selection Board of Constables after retirement, for alleged negligence. No action has been taken. Singhal said he would talk “at the appropriate time”.

2022 RPSC: RPSC member Babulal Katara was arrested in a case related to recruitment of senior teachers and suspended in January 2024. The ED filed a prosecution complaint on money laundering. Katara remains in judicial custody and the trial is underway.

2021 REET Level-2: Then CM Ashok Gehlot removed Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education Chairman D P Jaroli in the case linked to the Rajasthan Eligibility Examination for Teachers. RBSE Secretary Arvind Kumar Sengwa was suspended, then reinstated and reposted in November 2022. The ED is probing the matter. Jaroli said, “I was sacked as part of a political conspiracy against me. They also did injustice to Sengwa.”

2021 UKSSSC: IAS officer S Raju resigned as chairman of the Uttarakhand Subordinate Service Selection Commission on August 5, 2022, citing “moral responsibility” for the recruitment test leak. A retired 1984-batch officer, he had headed UKSSSC since September 2016. The matter is under trial. Describing the resignation as his “own decision”, Raju said he shared a list of candidates with the STF, after comparing their marks in previous exams with the leaked test, which was of “great help” in cracking the case. “I drafted an anti-copying legislation, which was promulgated by the government,” he said.

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2021 UPTET: Secretary of UP’s Exam Regulatory Authority Sanjay Kumar Upadhyay was booked, suspended, and arrested in connection with the UP Teacher Eligibility Test leak. His suspension was later revoked and he was promoted as Joint Director. Police charge-sheeted 23 people; trial is underway. “No charges were proved against me in departmental proceedings,” Upadhyay said.

2021 RPSC: RPSC member Ramu Ram Raika was arrested in the Sub-Inspector recruitment case and is out on bail. He did not respond to requests for comment.

2018 UP Teachers: UPPSC Exam Controller Anju Lata Katiyar was sacked and arrested for alleged negligence. The trial has seen at least 202 listings for hearings since 2019. Katiyar has since been reinstated and posted at the state revenue board. Katiyar dismissed the allegations as “baseless”, expressing “full faith in the judicial process” and confidence that an “expeditious trial” would allow the “truth to emerge” and “ensure justice is served”.

2015 UPPSC: The Allahabad High Court in October 2015 quashed the appointment of UPPSC Chairman Anil Yadav. Denying wrongdoing, Yadav described the allegations as “propaganda” that has not “been proved in any court of law”.

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2013 RPSC: Then RPSC Chairman Habib Khan Gauran resigned, was booked, surrendered on Supreme Court directions, and obtained bail in the case related to recruitment for the Rajasthan Judicial Service. The case is pending trial. Asserting that there was “no evidence” against him, Gauran said he was on bail.

2010 Railways: Former RRB Mumbai chairman Satendra Mohan Sharma and nine others were convicted by a CBI court in Hyderabad on January 30, 2024, and sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment with fines, for irregularities in the test for Assistant Loco Pilots and Assistant Station Masters. Sharma was granted bail by the Telangana High Court on February 2, 2024. He could not be reached for comment.

Shyamlal Yadav is one of the pioneers of the effective use of RTI for investigative reporting. He is a member of the Investigative Team. His reporting on polluted rivers, foreign travel of public servants, MPs appointing relatives as assistants, fake journals, LIC’s lapsed policies, Honorary doctorates conferred to politicians and officials, Bank officials putting their own money into Jan Dhan accounts and more has made a huge impact. He is member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). He has been part of global investigations like Paradise Papers, Fincen Files, Pandora Papers, Uber Files and Hidden Treasures. After his investigation in March 2023 the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York returned 16 antiquities to India. Besides investigative work, he keeps writing on social and political issues. ... Read More