Delhi's Saket Court granted bail to Indian Institute of Psychometry directors Shubendu Kumar Paul and Jaydeep Goswami in the 2021 ITBP recruitment paper leak case. With the investigation complete and no further custody needed, the court cited prolonged detention as unnecessary. They were released on bail with conditions to appear at hearings and not tamper with evidence.

New Delhi: A Delhi court at Saket has granted bail to the directors of the Indian Institute of Psychometry in connection with the alleged ITBP recruitment paper leak case, observing that continued incarceration would serve no useful purpose once the investigation stood completed.

The bail orders were passed on January 5, 2026, by Dr Nupur Gupta, Chief Judicial Magistrate, South East District, Saket Courts, in separate applications filed by the accused Shubendu Kumar Paul and Jaydeep Goswami. Both accused are stated to be directors of the Indian Institute of Psychometry.

As per the order, the accused had been in judicial custody since September 20, 2025. The court noted that the charge-sheet in the case had already been filed and that the Investigating Officer had not sought any further custodial interrogation of the accused. The court further observed that the trial was likely to take considerable time to conclude.

"Since there appears to be no requirement of the accused for any further custodial interrogation and no fruitful purpose would be served by keeping them behind bars, the present bail applications deserve to be allowed," the court held, while clarifying that no opinion was being expressed on the merits of the case.

Accordingly, the court directed that Shubendu Kumar Paul and Jaydeep Goswami be released on bail upon furnishing a personal bond of Rs 50,000 each with one surety of the like amount. The accused have been directed to appear before the trial court on every date of hearing, not to tamper with evidence or attempt to influence witnesses, and not to leave the country without prior permission of the court.

Advocates Anil Baisoya, Tariq Ahmed and Vinay Vats appeared for the accused, while the prosecution opposed the bail pleas on the ground that the allegations were serious in nature and there was a possibility of the accused jumping bail.

However, the court found that the completion of the investigation and prolonged custody tilted the balance in favour of granting bail.

The Delhi Crime Branch had arrested five persons in September, including directors of the Indian Institute of Psychometry (IIP), in connection with the 2021 ITBP constable recruitment paper leak. The institute, which had been awarded the contract to conduct the examination, was responsible for setting, printing and handling question papers and OMR sheets for the written test held on January 10, 2021, across 13 cities. The Crime Branch action followed a complaint by the ITBP recruitment wing, which alleged that despite the exam being centrally conducted, the question paper had surfaced in PDF form on WhatsApp even before the test, raising serious concerns over the integrity of the recruitment process.

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