Neten Dorji | Kanglung 

Wamrong dungkhag court convicted a student of Tashitse CS to two years, 11 months and 29 days for stealing Class XII answer scripts and destroying the evidence, yesterday.

However, Tshering Dorji can pay Nu 121,500 within 10 days of the judgment as thrimthue in lieu of the imprisonment term.

He was convicted for violating section 235 and 236 of the Penal Code of Bhutan. It is graded as a fourth degree felony.

The court convicted Tshering Dorji of burglary as per the Penal Code of Bhutan (2004). Burglary is graded a misdemeanour and the defendants have to serve a prison term between one and three years.

The court ordered him to pay a total of Nu 260,418 to Bhutan Council for School Examination and Assessment (BCSEA) and Wamrong drungkhag administration for arranging the food and other expenses for the re-examination.

According to the judgment, he was also ordered to pay Nu 111,553 – the expenses incurred by students including those who travelled to Bhutan from Kerala, India to resit exam last year. “The defendant has to pay Nu 3,750 to all students who reappeared the exams within three months of the judgment, for giving them unnecessary troubles,” the judgment stated.

The incident occurred in December last year at Tashitse HSS.

The student had entered the Teacher Resource Centre from a window which he found unlatched, entered the exam cell where the answer scripts consignments were stored and stole the answer scripts.

On January 2, after stealing the answer scripts, he burnt them.

After secured boxes had been intentionally tampered and specific examination envelopes for certain subjects were found removed, the case was forwarded to police. Police arrested the student on February 24, 2023.

According to the judgment, the student confessed to police and the court that he had stolen the answer sheets from the store where they were kept.

“The photos of Physics paper were found in the phone that was seized by the police and pieces of burnt paper from a spot.”

The prosecutor requested the court to order Tashitse HSS’s principal to bear 50 percent of the expenses incurred by the government for not following the rules and regulation of BCSEA. However, the court declined.

Meanwhile, the defendant has appealed to the High Court.