Bihar’s Bhagalpur varsity FIR against Delhi ex-minister Tomar in fake law degree case

The FIR was filed on Thursday, about four months after Tomar’s ‘fake’ degree was cancelled by the Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur university, after receiving approval of its academic council, syndicate and senate.

The Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University (TMBU) administration, on Thursday, lodged an FIR at University police station against former Delhi law minister Jitendra Singh Tomar , in a case pertaining to obtaining a fake law degree from the university.

An inquiry conducted by Bhagalpur university had found Tomar had obtained his law degree fraudulently.(PTI file photo)

The FIR was filed about four months after Tomar’s ‘fake’ degree was cancelled by the university, after receiving approval of the TMBU’s academic council, syndicate and senate. 

TMBU proctor Yogendra, who goes by a single name, is the informant in case.

“Documentary evidence emerging from the findings of a probe initiated by the TMBU administration, establishing the former minister had committed fraud for procuring a fake degree from university, has been attached with petition submitted to police for lodging the FIR”, he said. 

Rajesh Tiwary, TMBU’s OSD (legal),said the findings of enquiry related to university papers and residential address submitted by Tomar at the time of his enrolment in law course at Viswanath Singh Institute of legal studies (Munger), which functions under TMBU, had also be referred to in the FIR.

The TMBU officials had no clear answer as to why it took the university nearly four months to initiate legal action against former minister after his degree was cancelled.

 In March this year, the TMBU senate had, by a unanimous voice vote, approved the cancellation of the law degree of Tomar, which was earlier found to be ‘fake’ in an inquiry held by the university in 2016.

The finding was conveyed to a Delhi court hearing a case in connection with Tomar’s degree, through an affidavit filed on behalf of TMBU. Subsequently, the process for cancelling the ‘tainted’ degree had been initiated by the TMBU authorities.

The senate approval has paved way for the issuance of a formal notification by university for cancellation of his degree, which had allegedly been issued with the connivance of some employees of the university.

Earlier, the examination board and disciplinary committee of the university had given their consent for cancellation of Tomar’s law degree. Even the Delhi police, in its inquiry conducted separately, had found that Tomar’s law degree was fake.

Tomar was arrested by the Delhi police on June 9, 2015 in connection with the fake degree case. He had submitted his resignation to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on the following day, just hours after a Delhi court remanded him to four-day police custody.

More than a dozen university employees, who had been indicted in the probe undertaken by university and also in Delhi police probe, for their complicity in issuing a fake degree to the former Delhi minister have, however, been spared legal action, for now.

TMBU registrar Mohan Mishra said hearing in the fake degree case was underway in the Delhi high court and the employees indicted in university probe had been also indicted in probe of Delhi Police. “The TMBU decided to defer initiation of separate legal action against them till the decision of court on employees is known”, he explained.