'Munna Bhai' Should Remain Behind Bars: SC In Exam Fraud Case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court, on Monday, turned down the bail prayer of a man accused of getting someone else to sit for his Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET) with fake documents.

Invoking the name ‘Munna Bhai’ from the Bollywood comedy ‘Munna Bhai MBBS’, the bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta said that “Munna Bhai Andar Hi Rahna Chahiye (Munna Bhai deserves to remain behind the bars)”.

In the film, Munna Bhai – a gangster played by Sanjay Dutt – gets admitted to a medical college by threatening a doctor and making him sit for the entrance examination.

In this real-life incident, Sandeep Singh Patel allegedly got one Lokendra Shukla to impersonate him in the CTET examination in 2024.

“You are destroying the entire system of public examinations. There are many genuine candidates who suffer because of such acts,” the top court said.

The bench also issued notice on the accused’s bail plea and sought a reply within four weeks.

The incident took place on December 15 last year when the CTET exam centre officials reportedly realised that Shukla, the alleged proxy, had impersonated Patel who was supposed to take the examination, after his biometric verification failed. Shukla had used a fake admit card, officials said.

Both Patel and Shukla were subsequently arrested.

Patel, however, claimed that he was hospitalised during the time of the examination, and had no idea of the impersonation. However, call records and other evidence reportedly showed that the applicant and the proxy were in contact with each other.

While Shukla was granted bail, Patel’s bail application was rejected by the Allahabad High Court in July this year. According to the High Court, such practices promote a “culture of dishonesty and demotivate sincere students”.

“Cheating in an examination deeply affects the career of meritorious students who rely on hard work and honesty. It creates an uneven playing field, where merit is overshadowed by manipulation,” the Court had observed.