Mumbai, June 27 (IANS) Terming the recent Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) paper leak as a highly infuriating incident, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday announced that the state government is planning to invoke the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against the masterminds and key accused involved in the scam.

He stated that he will soon hold a detailed discussion with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to implement this decision.

Emphasising that the state government operates under a strict “zero tolerance” policy toward corruption, Shinde noted that a paper leak is no longer just a financial malpractice but has taken the form of serious, structured, organised crime.

He asserted that a thorough, impartial, and extremely strict investigation would be conducted into this matter and that no one would be spared, regardless of their position or the organised syndicate they belong to.

He added that the strictest possible legal action would be taken against those involved.

Shinde highly commended the Maharashtra Police for their alertness and swift intervention. He said that, acting on confidential intelligence, the police carried out timely raids that successfully prevented the futures of lakhs of hardworking and honest aspirants from being plunged into darkness.

Reassuring the vast student community affected by the development, the Deputy CM promised that the exam would be rescheduled at the earliest.

He promised that the TET exam would be conducted again soon in a completely transparent and fair manner and that the rights of honest candidates would not be compromised.

He added that the Mahayuti government remains firmly dedicated to building a corruption-free, high-quality, and robust education system in Maharashtra.

Earlier, the Maharashtra State Council of Examinations (MSCE) abruptly postponed the TET 2026, scheduled for Sunday, June 28, 2026. The decision comes after a joint raid by the Bhiwandi police exposed a major question paper leak just a day before the state-wide examination. The exam was set to take place across 1,028 centres in Maharashtra.

Council officials stated that the postponement was necessary to maintain absolute transparency and fairness for all candidates. The postponement of TET has thrown the future of over 428,122 candidates into limbo and sparked widespread outrage across the state.

According to official sources, intelligence agencies received confidential information in the early hours of Saturday, June 27, 2026, indicating that a group of individuals in Bhiwandi (Thane district) had unauthorised access to the TET question papers.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former minister Aaditya Thackeray targeted the ruling Mahayuti alliance over the TET paper leak, saying that instead of splitting parties to amend the Constitution, the BJP should focus on stopping these repeated paper leaks. He added that the BJP had been ruining the future of the nation.

He asked whether the NEET paper had leaked, whether MPSC papers had leaked in the past few years, and whether the TET paper had leaked.

He further said that over the last decade, such incidents had occurred repeatedly in Maharashtra, tarnishing the state’s reputation.

He questioned whether the youth had to keep protesting every year, and when the country’s youth would get to dream about their future.

–IANS

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