Cuttack, Sept. 5: Orissa High Court today refused to order a CBI probe into the High School Certificate (HSC) Examination-2012 question paper theft case and asked the CID-crime branch to complete the investigation in 40 days.

Advocate Prabir Kumar Das had filed a PIL seeking direction for a CBI probe, citing state CID-crime branch’s “apparent failure” to get any clue to track down the culprits even after five months.

The division bench of Chief Justice V. Gopala Gowda and Justice S.K. Mishra, before which the PIL came up for admission today, disposed of the petition with a direction to the crime branch to “expedite” the probe and submit final report “preferably within 40 days in the appropriate court”.

State counsel Ramakanta Mohapatra pleaded that the crime branch should be allowed to continue its probe as investigation into the case was on track. Proper inquiry into the case was imperative to check recurrence of such incidents because of involvement of persons at different levels in the face of lack of proper security measures at examination centres, the PIL contended, while seeking detailed investigation by the CBI.

The annual HSC examination for nearly 4.66 lakh regular students in the state were suspended on March 21 after it was found that question papers of the remaining tests were stolen from an examination centre — Bhagawati Bidyapith at Kakatpur in Puri district.

On March 21, the students had appeared the English paper, but that examination was cancelled. Later, the Board of Secondary Education, Odisha, declared fresh examination dates after deferring it by 20 days. A day after the matriculation examination was deferred because of the theft, the state government ordered a crime branch probe.

The crime branch had formed three teams to probe the case with an officer of the rank of deputy superintendent of police as the investigating officer. Investigation has since been in progress. On April 25, the investigating agency announced reward of Rs 2 lakh for information on the culprits.