Pune Students Face Criminal Cases After MPSC Paper Leak Protest, Opposition Demands Accountability

Fourteen students in Pune found themselves facing criminal cases after joining a protest that called for action over an alleged Maharashtra Public Service Commission paper leak and the removal of the commission's chairman, drawing an immediate backlash from opposition lawmakers who accused police of targeting the wrong people. Rather than booking the students, opposition voices argued, authorities should have directed scrutiny at MPSC chairman Bhimanwar, whom students held responsible for the examination scandal. The episode added to growing tensions in Maharashtra over accountability in government recruitment processes that shape career prospects for thousands of competitive examination aspirants across the state.

🗳️ Police Book 14 Students Over Traffic Obstruction During MPSC Protest

Pune police registered criminal cases against fourteen students who had been participating in a protest against an alleged paper leak in Maharashtra Public Service Commission examinations and who were demanding the removal of the commission's chairman. Law enforcement cited a specific justification for the action: that the protesting students had been blocking and obstructing traffic in Pune, thereby causing inconvenience to citizens in nearby areas. The demonstration had been organized around two clearly stated demands — accountability for the alleged examination paper leak and the ouster of the MPSC chairman — both of which speak to concerns about the integrity of government job recruitment in Maharashtra. MPSC examinations serve as a primary pathway into state government employment, and allegations of a paper leak strike at the foundations of a process that candidates from across Maharashtra depend on to compete fairly for limited public sector positions. The criminal cases filed against the fourteen students meant they were now facing legal proceedings for taking part in a demonstration over what they considered a failure of institutional oversight. Law enforcement chose to focus on the traffic disruption caused by the protest rather than engaging with the substance of the students' concerns about the paper leak. The booking of protesters while the underlying allegation remained unaddressed drew significant attention and quickly became the subject of political dispute. [7]

🗳️ NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar Condemns FIRs, Demands Action Against MPSC Chairman

Opposition leaders came down hard on the Maharashtra government and Pune police following the decision to register cases against students who had been protesting the alleged MPSC paper leak. Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar faction) MLA Rohit Pawar emerged as a leading voice of the criticism, accusing police of booking students who were seeking nothing more than justice for the paper leak rather than directing their enforcement action against MPSC chairman Bhimanwar, who was at the center of student demands for accountability. Rohit Pawar's critique cut to the heart of the opposition argument: that the authorities had turned accountability on its head by treating students as the problem while the official whose conduct had triggered the protests continued in his role without facing equivalent legal pressure. The Maharashtra government drew condemnation alongside Pune police, with opposition lawmakers arguing that the state bore responsibility for the enforcement posture that resulted in students being booked. The contrast that Rohit Pawar and his colleagues drew between the criminal cases filed against fourteen young protesters on one hand, and the absence of similar action against MPSC chairman Bhimanwar on the other, was central to the political pressure the opposition sought to exert. For the students caught up in the FIRs, the opposition response offered some validation, as prominent legislators amplified their grievance and demanded that the government reconsider its priorities in the MPSC paper leak controversy. [2]

Sources: [7] The New Indian Express · [2] The New Indian Express