RAWALPINDI: The anti-corruption establishment (ACE) of Rawalpindi has booked 10 teachers for their alleged involvement in leaking a fifth grade English language paper, prepared by the Punjab Examination Commission (PEC).

A spokesman for ACE said the paper was initially leaked through SMS, and later sold in the market. Three high school principals are among the suspects.

According to the anti-graft body, certain teachers opened a sealed envelope containing the question papers, a day before the test was supposed to be held, on February 10.

However, PEC managed to prepare a new paper the same day. The organisation later filed an application with ACE, calling for the arrest of those involved.

ACE Rawalpindi deals with corruption and misconduct of the government employees within the district.

The case will be prosecuted before the anti-corruption court. The suspects have been booked under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), including section 166 which deals with public servants’ disobedience to law, and 406 and 409 (criminal breach of trust).

If charged, those involved could face up to 10 years of imprisonment.

Supreme Court lawyer Zulfikar Bhutta, while talking to Dawn, said that section 406 should not have been registered in the FIR against the teachers, and added that the routine practice of booking teachers and students, for cheating, under criminal laws is not an education-friendly approach.

Executive District Officer Education Qazi Zahoorul Haq said the education department would fully cooperate with ACE to expose corruption within the organisation.

Meanwhile, Qazi Mohammad Imran, the president of Punjab Teachers’ Union in Rawalpindi, called the FIR registered against the three heads of schools an injustice, and said teachers would stage a protest.