M A I N   N E W S

Punjab PMT on June 30
Our Correspondent

Amritsar, June 11
Guru Nanak Dev University will re-conduct the Punjab Medical Entrance Test (PMET)-2005 on June 30. The test will be conducted as per the notification of the Punjab Government.

Dr S.P. Singh, Vice-Chancellor, said the test would be conducted on the same admit cards issued by the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot. He informed that venues and time of the test would be the same as notified earlier.

He said to check any type of unfair means, video recording of each candidate would also be done. Therefore, candidates were required to reach the examination centres half an hour before the start of the test.

FIR in PMT case shifted to Vigilance
Saurabh Malik
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 11
In less than a week after Punjab PMT examinations were ordered to be cancelled following confirmation of paper leakage, the first information report (FIR) registered at a police station in Faridkot has been transferred to the state Vigilance Bureau.

The sources in the Punjab Police headquarters said the entire record pertaining to the paper leakage case has also been handed over to the Vigilance Bureau authorities.

They added that the process of issuing notices and questioning officers responsible for the conduct of entrance examinations was expected to begin from Monday. The sources asserted that the possibility of the Bureau authorities initiating action against candidates purchasing the question papers from unscrupulous elements could not be ruled out. The entire process was likely to take anywhere between a fortnight and a month.

As of now, the vigilance authorities were of the opinion that the paper was leaked from the binding section. Some official, having access to the section, managed to pull out a set of four sheets containing 88 questions. These were, subsequently, sold to the candidates for Rs 15,000 and above a few days before the examination was held on June 5.

Vigilance Chief-cum-Additional Director-General of Punjab Police A.P. Pandey, when contacted, said the case registered by the Faridkot Police had been transferred because there could not be more than one FIR for the same offence.

A formal complaint in the paper leakage case was forwarded to Faridkot’s Superintendent of Police by the Vice-Chancellor of Baba Farid University for Health Sciences, Dr J.S. Gujral, after a news-report about the leakage of question paper was carried in these columns.

An inquiry into the incident by a retired Punjab and Haryana High Court Judge, Justice Jai Singh Sekhon, was also ordered by the Vice-Chancellor. But Justice Sekhon dissociated himself from the inquiry after the matter was handed over to the Vigilance Bureau by Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.