Case file · ARO · surfaced 28 Feb 2021

Army CEE leak (Secunderabad): officers booked; exam postponed

Stalled documented status: FIR registered

Confidence C — based on the press record (archived below). No primary documents on file yet; treat names of agencies, dates and figures as reported, not established.

The Army's common entrance exam for soldier (GD) scheduled for 28 February 2021 was postponed after the paper leaked the previous night; Pune police and military intelligence detained suspects, and the CBI registered a case that named serving officers, including the presiding officer of the Secunderabad board that printed the papers. In 2024 the Armed Forces Tribunal quashed a 'displeasure' award against another board member, finding due process violations — while recording that the presiding officer was found to have leaked the paper.

Examination: Common Entrance Exam, Soldier (GD) Feb 2021
Conducting body: Indian Army (Recruiting Organisation) (ARO)
Exam date: 28 Feb 2021
Leak date (as documented): 27 Feb 2021
Surfaced: 28 Feb 2021
States: Telangana, Maharashtra, Pan-India
Candidates affected: not established
Leak vector: Printing press
State govt at the time: BJP-led NDA (Union)
Last reviewed: 11 Jun 2026

Stall clock — no docket movement for

806

days (2y 76d) · last movement 2024-03-27

Accountability Gap Index

national average 0.97 / 7 · how this is scored →

1 / 7

✓ FIR within 30 days
✗ Charge sheet within 180 days
✗ Any conviction
✗ Exam cancelled & fully re-held
✗ Fee refund documented
✗ Official permanently removed
✗ Reform gazette-notified

Each milestone scores one point only when the register holds a document for it. The gap is what the missing points describe.

How it surfaced

Who found it

Police tip-off

Hours before the Common Entrance Exam, police in multiple cities — acting with military intelligence — caught candidates with the paper; the Army cancelled the exam nationwide on the morning itself.

The conducting body's first response

Acknowledged it

Cancelled before the first sitting; courts-martial-side and police probes ran in parallel, with serving and ex-servicemen among the arrested.

The docket

Every legal action on record, in order. Each row cites its document.

28 Feb 2021

Exam cancelled · Indian Army

CEE postponed nationwide after the leak was detected.

per: Army recruitment paper leak case: AFT quashes 'displeasure' given to Lt Colonel (The Indian Express, 30 Mar 2024)
5 Mar 2021

FIR registered · Central Bureau of Investigation

CBI case naming serving officers of the question-paper board and civilian intermediaries.

per: Army recruitment paper leak case: AFT quashes 'displeasure' given to Lt Colonel (The Indian Express, 30 Mar 2024)
27 Mar 2024

Order / direction · Armed Forces Tribunal, Chandigarh

'Displeasure' against a board member quashed for procedural violations.

per: Army recruitment paper leak case: AFT quashes 'displeasure' given to Lt Colonel (The Indian Express, 30 Mar 2024)

What candidates got

Outcome	Ordered by	Order date	Detail
Re-exam held	Indian Army	—	Recruitment exam re-conducted later in 2021.

Officials & institutions implicated

Recorded at position level. A personal name appears only in the "Named individuals" table below, behind the naming gate.

Arrested

Serving army personnel (multiple), recruitment chain · 1 Mar 2021

Police and military intelligence arrested serving personnel alongside civilian touts.

Sources on file

Tier 2 · reported Army recruitment paper leak case: AFT quashes 'displeasure' given to Lt Colonel — The Indian Express · 30 Mar 2024 [archived]

Status log

Every status this register has ever assigned to this case. Append-only.

28 Feb 2021	ALLEGED	Allegations surfaced publicly.
5 Mar 2021	ALLEGED → FIR_REGISTERED	CBI case naming serving officers of the question-paper board and civilian intermediaries.

Act on this record

File an RTI on this case pre-filled from the docket · RTI Act 2005 · ₹10 fee

The application below is pre-filled from this case file. Add your name and address, then send it to the Public Information Officer of Central Bureau of Investigation — online via rtionline.gov.in (central bodies) or your state RTI portal.

To: The Public Information Officer,
Central Bureau of Investigation

Subject: Request under the Right to Information Act, 2005 — Army CEE leak (Secunderabad): officers booked; exam postponed

Under the Right to Information Act 2005, I request the following information:

1. Current status of FIR No. [number] dated 5 Mar 2021 concerning the question paper leak in Common Entrance Exam, Soldier (GD) Feb 2021.
2. Whether a charge sheet has been filed in this matter; if yes, its date and the court where it was filed.
3. Names and current postings of all officials suspended in connection with this matter.
4. Whether any suspended official has been reinstated; if yes, the order reference and date.
5. Date and outcome of the last court hearing in this matter.

I am enclosing the application fee of Rs. 10 as required. If this application falls outside your office's purview, kindly transfer it under Section 6(3) of the Act and inform me.

Regards,
[Applicant name]
[Address]
[Date]

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