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MPSC chairman refutes allegations in Drug Inspector paper leak case
Maharashtra Public Service Commission chairman Vivek Bhimanwar has denied any involvement in the Drug Inspector examination paper leak, stating the incident occurred before he assumed charge. The opposition, led by NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar, has demanded his resignation, while police have arrested seven individuals in connection with the case.
By Tertius News AI Desk2 distinct · 4 mastheads · 5 articlesVersion 2Coverage Published
distinct = voices after wire copies and reprints of the same article collapse; mastheads = publisher names; articles = URLs
Bhimanwar denies role in paper leak
Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) chairman Vivek Bhimanwar has refuted allegations linking him to the question paper leak in the Drug Inspector (Group-B) examination, asserting that the incident took place before he assumed charge of the recruitment body.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Bhimanwar said the alleged leak occurred in January 2026, while he took oath as MPSC chairman on February 18 and assumed charge of the office on March 3. "It is necessary to take into account the facts regarding the period of the incident," he said, responding to allegations that have been levelled against him.
The denial comes amid demands for his resignation from the opposition, led by NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar, who has accused Bhimanwar of trying to shirk responsibility.
Timeline of the examination and leak
The recruitment process for Drug Inspector posts was initiated through an advertisement issued on July 29, 2025. The screening examination for 154 posts was conducted offline at six divisional headquarters across Maharashtra on March 22. The results were declared on June 12, after which 506 candidates were found eligible for the interview stage. According to reports, 488 candidates appeared for interviews conducted between July 1 and 22.
Following the interviews, the MPSC published a provisional general merit list comprising 488 candidates, including 485 found eligible for appointment and three declared ineligible.
Complaints concerning the conduct of the screening examination were received by the commission between July 22 and 26 through e-mail from some candidates as well as public representatives. These complaints alleged that some candidates had received the question paper or questions before the examination, on March 20, and that these were subsequently circulated through social media or electronic media.
After receiving these complaints, the MPSC approached the Mumbai crime branch on July 27 for a probe. On August 25, the commission cancelled the recruitment process for the Group-B posts.
Police investigation and arrests
The Mumbai police have arrested seven individuals in connection with the case. Among those arrested is Rutuja Patil, a female candidate who had secured seventh rank in the examination. According to reports, Patil was taken into custody from Nandurbar by the Property Cell of the Crime Branch. The Crime Branch arrested six individuals on August 26 in connection with the breach of confidentiality.
The case has been registered under the Maharashtra Competitive Examination (Prevention of Malpractices) Act, 2024, and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
Response from the commission and government
Bhimanwar said the MPSC has taken serious note of the alleged question paper leak and has lodged a complaint, with police having commenced an investigation. The commission has constituted a high-level internal committee to recommend preventive and security measures to ensure that such incidents do not recur. The state government has separately formed a high-level committee to suggest comprehensive reforms in the overall examination process.
Bhimanwar, a 2009 batch IAS officer who previously served as transport commissioner, said his focus since assuming charge has been on strengthening the credibility, transparency, efficiency and security of the commission's examination and recruitment processes. "Safeguarding the commission's high traditions, impartiality and credibility, and providing millions of candidates a fair and equal opportunity, is my constitutional responsibility. I am committed to discharging this responsibility with complete transparency, impartiality and integrity," he said.
He also said elected representatives, candidates and citizens had every right to raise questions and express concerns regarding public examinations. "I welcome such questions in a democratic system. However, any serious allegation should be assessed only on the basis of facts, official records and evidence," he said, appealing that sensitive issues should not be turned into personal allegations or political controversies.
How each outlet told it
A framing line is our reading of that outlet's own text — an interpretation, not a quotation and not a fact we assert. Check it against what the outlet published.
Framing: The chairman's denial of allegations — Defensive and measured
Facts Included:
Allegations by NCP(SCP) MLA Rohit Pawar in connection with the Drug Inspector Examination
Maharashtra Public Service Commission chairman Vivek Bhimanwar clarified that he assumed charge in March, while the alleged irregularities occurred in January
Rohit Pawar had demanded the resignation of Bhimanwar as the MPSC chairman
Bhimanwar said that after assuming charge as Chairman, he has focused on further strengthening the credibility, transparency, efficiency and security of the examination and recruitment processes
Bhimanwar said that facts must be analysed before making such allegations
The incident occurred in January 2026
I took oath as Chairman on 18th February 2026 and assumed charge on 3rd March 2026
The commission has filed a police complaint with regard to the cancellation of the entire recruitment process for the post of Drug Inspector
The Commission has constituted an internal high-level committee to suggest necessary preventive and security measures
The GoM has also constituted a high-level committee to suggest necessary reforms in the entire examination process
Bhimanwar appealed that the issue should not be turned into a political battleground with personal allegations
The screening examination for the Drug Inspector was conducted offline on March 22 at six divisional headquarters in Maharashtra, and its result was declared on June 12
The Commission published a provisional general merit list comprising 488 candidates, including 485 eligible and three ineligible candidates
Between July 22 and July 26, the Commission received complaints through email from candidates and public representatives alleging malpractice
The complaints alleged that some candidates had received the question paper or questions before the examination on March 20
On Tuesday, accused Rutuja Patil was taken into custody from Nandurbar by the Property Cell of the Crime Branch
On August 26, the Crime Branch arrested six individuals in connection with the breach of confidentiality
The case has been registered under the Maharashtra Competitive Examination (Prevention of Malpractices) Act, 2024, and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988
Framing: Headline emphasizes the MPSC chairman's denial, specifically that he was not in office when the paper leak occurred. — Defensive and measured
Facts Included:
MPSC chairman Vivek Bhimanwar denied involvement in the Drug Inspector exam paper leak.
Bhimanwar said the incident occurred before he assumed charge of the recruitment body.
Police have arrested seven individuals in connection with the alleged question paper leak.
The commission has formed a committee to recommend preventive security measures.
The state government is also improving the overall examination process.
Vivek Bhimanwar said the question paper leak in the Drug Inspector (Group-B) examination happened before he took charge, amid demands for his resignation.
Bhimanwar said the incident took place in January 2026, while he took charge as MPSC chief on February 18 and assumed charge on March 3.
Bhimanwar said the MPSC has taken serious note of the alleged question paper leak and lodged a complaint, adding that police were investigating.
The Mumbai police have arrested seven persons, including a female candidate who had secured seventh rank in the exam.
According to Bhimanwar, the commission constituted a high-level internal committee to recommend preventive and security measures.
The state government has formed a high-level committee to suggest improvements in the examination process.
Bhimanwar said his focus had been on strengthening credibility, transparency, efficiency and security of the commission's processes.
Several reforms have been initiated to make the examination and recruitment system more robust.
Bhimanwar said elected representatives, candidates and citizens had the right to raise questions.
He welcomed such questions in a democratic system.
He said any serious allegation should be assessed only on the basis of facts, official records and evidence.
He appealed that sensitive issues should not be turned into personal allegations or political controversies.
Allegations have surfaced on social media claiming Bhimanwar had a role and should resign.
The recruitment process for drug inspectors was initiated through an advertisement issued on July 29, 2025.
The screening examination was conducted offline at six divisional headquarters on March 22 this year.
The result was declared on June 12, after which 506 candidates were found eligible for the interview stage.
488 candidates appeared for interviews conducted between July 1 and 22.
The MPSC published a provisional general merit list comprising 488 candidates, including 485 eligible and three ineligible.
Complaints concerning the conduct of the screening examination were received between July 22 and 26 through e-mail from candidates and public representatives.
Framing: Reports the MPSC chairperson's defense that the paper leak occurred before he took charge, linked to opposition demands for resignation.
Framing: Headline emphasizes Bhimanwar's claim that the leak pre-dated his tenure, framing his defense against demands for resignation.
Facts Included:
MPSC Chairman Vivek Bhimanwar stated the Drug Inspector exam paper leak happened before his tenure
The incident occurred in January 2026, while he took charge as MPSC chief on February 18 and assumed office on March 3
Bhimanwar said the MPSC had taken serious note of the alleged question paper leak and lodged a complaint
The Mumbai police have arrested seven people, including Rutuja Patil, who had secured seventh rank in the examination
The commission has constituted a high-level internal committee to recommend preventive and security measures
The state government has separately formed a high-level committee to suggest necessary improvements in the overall examination process
Several important reforms have been initiated to make the examination and recruitment system more robust and secure
Bhimanwar said elected representatives, candidates and citizens had every right to raise questions and express concerns regarding public examinations
Allegations have surfaced on social media claiming that Bhimanwar had a role in the paper leak episode
The recruitment process for Drug Inspectors had been initiated through an advertisement issued on July 29, 2025
The screening examination was conducted offline at six divisional headquarters across Maharashtra on March 22 this year
The result was declared on June 12, after which 506 candidates were found eligible for the interview stage
Of these, 488 candidates appeared for interviews conducted between July 1 and 22
After completion of the interviews, the MPSC published a provisional general merit list comprising 488 candidates, including 485 candidates found eligible for appointment and three declared ineligible
Complaints concerning the conduct of the screening examination were received by the commission between July 22 and 26 through e-mail from some candidates as well as public representatives
MPSC chairperson Vivek Bhimanwar said the drug inspector screening exam paper leak took place in January, while he took oath on February 18 and took charge on March 3.
The opposition, led by NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar, has demanded Bhimanwar’s resignation.
The exam for 154 posts was held on March 22, and results were declared in July.
MPSC approached the Mumbai crime branch on July 27 for a probe after getting complaints about the leak.
On August 25, MPSC cancelled the recruitment process for the Group-B posts.
Bhimanwar said MPSC has filed a complaint and police have started an investigation.
MPSC constituted an internal high-level committee to suggest preventive measures.
The state government set up a high-level committee to suggest reforms in the examination process.
Rohit Pawar alleged that the paper reached students on March 20, two days before the exam.
Pawar questioned why the exam was still conducted in March despite the leak two months prior.
Bhimanwar is a 2009 batch IAS officer and was previously transport commissioner and private secretary to CM Devendra Fadnavis.
Bhimanwar said his focus has been on strengthening credibility, transparency, efficiency and security of the examination process.
Pawar demanded Bhimanwar's resignation, saying if he cared about constitutional position and students' future, he should resign.
Pawar stated he hasn't spoken even 1% about personal and political allegations yet.
AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.
Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status is Contested when two claims on this page negate each other; otherwise it counts the mastheads we found asserting that specific claim — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimThe Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) has taken serious note of the alleged question paper leak in the Drug Inspector (Group-B) examination and lodged a complaint, with police investigating the matter.
ClaimThe Mumbai police have arrested seven individuals, including a female candidate who secured seventh rank in the Drug Inspector examination, in connection with the question paper leak.
ClaimBhimanwar said that after assuming charge, his focus has been on strengthening the credibility, transparency, efficiency and security of the commission's examination and recruitment processes.
ClaimThe MPSC published a provisional general merit list comprising 488 candidates, including 485 candidates found eligible for appointment and three declared ineligible.
ClaimComplaints concerning the conduct of the screening examination were received by the commission between July 22 and 26 through e-mail from some candidates as well as public representatives.
ClaimThe incident relating to the Drug Inspector examination occurred in January 2026, while Bhimanwar took charge as MPSC chief on February 18 and assumed office on March 3.
ClaimThe Mumbai police have arrested seven people, including Rutuja Patil, who had secured seventh rank in the examination, in connection with the case.
ClaimBhimanwar said elected representatives, candidates and citizens had every right to raise questions and express concerns regarding public examinations.
ClaimThe opposition, led by NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar, has demanded Bhimanwar's resignation over the drug inspector screening exam for the FDA department.
ClaimThe commission has filed a police complaint with regard to the cancellation of the entire recruitment process for the post of Drug Inspector in the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Department following irregularities in the examination.
ClaimThe complaints alleged that some candidates had received the question paper or questions before the examination, on March 20, and that these were subsequently circulated through social media or electronic media.
ClaimOn August 26, the Crime Branch arrested six individuals in connection with the breach of confidentiality related to the MPSC Drug Inspector (Group-B) examination.
ClaimThe case has been registered under the Maharashtra Competitive Examination (Prevention of Malpractices) Act, 2024, and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
2 distinct · 4 mastheads · 5 articles consulted: ANI (Asian News International), The Economic Times, ThePrint, The Times of India33 claims extractedVersion 2Written 2026-09-02