Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: A total of 24 persons, including centre chief, teachers and employees who were involved in the Jaitapur (Kannad tehsil) malpractice case during the HSC examination, were booked on Wednesday.
It is worth noting that the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) began holding the HSC examination in February-March 2026 on Tuesday. Students took the English subject paper on Tuesday, the first of this session.
Rashtriya Uccha Madhyamik Vidyalay of Jaitapur in Kannad tehsil was one of the HSC centres in the district. A total of 331 candidates were allotted the centre. According to details, 327 students were taking the English subject paper at 14 classrooms of the centre yesterday.
A flying squad led by Ashwini Lathkar, Education Officer (Secondary), Zilla Parishad (ZP) made a surprise visit at the centre at 1.20 pm yesterday. During the inspection of the examination centre, nine xerox copies of answers solved on mobile phones and handwritten forms were found with some students. When the CCTV camera footage was examined, it was clearly seen that a supervisor appointed in some classrooms was helping students to copy.
It was also observed that some students were copying by looking at each other's answer sheets. A thorough investigation has been conducted into the matter and a case was registered against a total of 24 people, including the examination centre chief.
The suspension process has been initiated against the supervising teachers and members of the sitting squad of ZP establishment. A proposal was submitted to the concerned authorities for action.
The officers of the Education Department said that disciplinary action was taken against the employees of the relevant private institutions who are not employees of the ZP through their institutions and the legal process of suspension as per the rules was directed to be implemented.
This action has been taken on the orders of the Chairman of the District Vigilance Committee and District Collector Deelip Swami, Chief Executive Officer of Zilla Parishad Ankit and Chairman of State Board (Pune) Nandkumar Bedse, president of the Divisional Office of the State Board Anil Sable.
Bloc Education Officer, Panchayat Samiti Kannad, was asked to lodge a complaint against the concerned employees in the police station. Accordingly, a case was registered at Deogaon Rangari Police Station (Kannad) against 24 employees who had duty at the examination centre.
This includes 13 employees of Rashtriya Uccha Madhyamik Vidyalay, 5 employees of Rashtriya Prathmik Vidyalay (Hatnur), two employees of New High School (Debhegaon) and four employees of the ZP establishment department.
Out of them, the employees of the ZP establishment were suspended and since the staff members working in the institution were ordered to suspend the staff members. Instructions have been given to the custodian's office to submit the answer sheets of 327 students of the said centre separately to the Divisional Board office.
Box
Instructions were given to install a CCTV system at every examination centre. It will be necessary to keep all the cameras running during the examination period. The officers said that strict instructions have been issued to all centre directors by the State and district administration and strict action will be taken if any irregularities are found at any examination centre. So, the district administration has appealed to all examination centres across the district to conduct the examination in a copying-free environment.