MUMBAI: The HSC book-keeping and accountancy paper was ‘leaked’ at least 30 minutes before it was handed out to examinees on Monday, claimed students. Some sent screenshots of the question paper doing the rounds on a mobile networking app as early as 10.20am to TOI.Board officials said the shots were circulated on WhatsApp after the exam started and hence, could not be termed a leak. Students get the papers 10 minutes before to help them read properly, a move teachers blamed for the ‘leak’.“At 11.26am, we received the pictures through journalists. We do not have proof that the pictures were circulated before the paper began and hence, we will treat it as a case of cheating,” said Y S Chandekar, secretary, Mumbai divisional board.The board rules bar students from carrying mobiles to exam centres, but in reality, most bring them to classrooms and are told to switch them off and keep in bags. Students are not frisked. Exam coordinators said many parents insist on the phones as many students travel from far.Sources said students in Kandivli were among the first to get shots of the first three pages of the 11-page paper. The pages contained objective questions of 15 marks and part of an eight mark sum.Over three lakh students took the exam, and officials claimed the incident was limited to Mumbai division. “We received complaints from Mumbai division. It looks like a copying case prima facie. We are investigating. As of now, re-exam is not being discussed,” said Krishnakumar Patil, secretary, Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education.A student who called his teacher said he received a copy of the question paper at 10.20am. “He said he received the images on his phone from another friend. There is no idea where the trail originates,” said a professor. A TOI reporter got the pictures from a professor at 11.09am.“We have submitted our report to the headquarters in Pune and are awaiting instructions,” said Y S Chandekar, secretary, Mumbai divisional board.Mobile phones are at the heart of this incident, and it is clear that exam centres are never sanitized of the smart devices. Students carry them, so do officials involved with uncovering the papers and handing them out. “We ensure students switch off the phones and keep them in bags outside the classroom. In spite of that, when we warn the students again, there are a few who get up to keep their phones out,” said a teacher from a college in Matunga.If caught with a mobile phone inside the exam hall, a case of copying is registered. “After investigation, a student might be barred from taking the exam for the next two or three years depending on suggestions by the committee,” said board member Uday Nare.Teachers blame the board’s new policy of distributing the question paper 10 minutes prior to the exam. They say it has led to cheating in several small centres where students are not frisked for their phones.“In the 10 minutes before the exam, some students take pictures of the question paper and send it to their senior friends, who in turn send back answers for objective type questions plus other hints,” said Manoj Jariwala, honorary secretary of the Maharashtra Class Owners’ Association .Students also take advantage of the 30 minutes grace that is allowed to start the examination. “At times, some students come 10 to 15 minutes late. In this gap of about 20 to 25 minutes they get the answers from their senior friends. The new guidelines have been opposed even by many college teachers. In my opinion, students are misusing this 10 minutes. It should be stopped,” he added.