Mumbai: The Bombay High Court today (Sep 15, 2004) rejected the bail plea of former Chairman of Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) S D Karnik and former police sub-inspector Pramod Kadam, both accused in the multi-crore-answer paper scam.

The bail was rejected by Justice Vijaya Tahilramani who observed that there was a prima facie case against them.

Karnik's bail plea has been rejected for the fourth time by the High Court while that of Kadam has been turned down thrice, investigating officer Sudhakar Poojari told sources.

Karnik and Kadam were arrested on July 14, 2002 and August 3, 2004 respectively.

The investigation has concluded and ACB (Anti-Corruption Board) filed the chargesheet in the court charging 27 accused with participating in a conspiracy to pass 399 candidates in 1999 written test conducted by MPSC for senior positions in Government.

According to prosecution, the accused allegedly substituted original answer sheets with duplicate ones for monetary consideration received from students who appeared for 1999 written examination conducted by MPSC for the posts of sales tax inspector, constables and Mantralaya assistants.

Of the 27 accused, three have been granted bail by the Bombay High Court.

They are former deputy municipal commissioner Vishwanath Kelkar, suspended constable Hukumsingh Bhatti and MPSC former member Sayalee Joshi.

The scam was detected on June 20, 2002 when secretary of MPSC Seema Dhamdhere filed a complaint with ACB about fraudulent practices in the Commission.