Police chargesheet says ex-Delhi Law Minister got fake law degree

Former Delhi Law Minister Jitendra Singh Tomar, who has not studied beyond class 12, got a fake law degree without attending a single class or appearing for exams, said the Delhi Police in a 4,000 page chargesheet. The chargesheet also stated that Tomar was aided by officials of the Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University to help him get his fake degree

"The investigation revealed that the accused was desperate to get a graduation/post graduation degree. So he tried all illegal means to get one," said the chargesheet.

The cops stated that both Tomar's B.Sc and law degree were fake and he had used dubious means to enrol in Munger Law College under the Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University.

The chargesheet — filed in the court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate against Tomar and 16 other people, — also includes the principal of Munger Law College, Surinder Kumar Singh.

"Tomar obtained a fake B.Sc degree from Awadh University, Faizabad, during 1986-87 and has not studied more than class 12. Later he got admission in the law college affiliated under Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University (TMBU), but neither did he attend classes nor did he appear for any exams. As per the university's record, Tomar was declared failed but was still given the law degree," the officer said.

According to a police official privy to the probe, Tomar had enrolled in BSc in Botany in 1983 at Shivaji College but did not pursue it for more than a year. Following this, he joined BA pass course at Rajdhani College in the Capital.

"The accused got admission in Shivaji College, Rajdhani College, Delhi University in different streams, i.e science and arts but could not succeed. So he opted for illegal means for creating fake and forged documents, degrees, mark sheets and RTI replies," the police official quoted from the charge-sheet.

Police also mentioned in the charge-sheet that both his signatures, which he had given during admissions in the law college and the affidavit at the Bar Council, matched after they were examined at a lab of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and they matched.

"The matching of the signatures rules out any foul play and we come to the conclusion that it has been done by the accused himself and not any other person," said the officer.

The probe also pointed fingers at University officials, including those of examination department, suggesting that they had helped Tomar to obtain a fake law degree.

The sleuths have asked the court to summon the accused and conduct a trial against him while conducting prosecuting the rest of the accused but without arrest. The cops have asked to register a case against the accused under sections 120B and 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) among other sections which draws a maximum sentence of 10 years.

"In his law college admission records, it has been shown that Tomar obtained the B.Sc degree from Awadh University whereas in the records of Tilakamanji University he has been shown to have been migrated from Bundelkhand University. The migration certificate should be registered in three months, but in Tomar's case, the certificate was registered after seven years. Also, Bundelkhand University has clarified it had not issued any such certificate to Tomar," police said.

Tomar's troubles began in February 2005 when a petition was filed in the Delhi High Court alleging that the Aam Aadmi Party minister was using a fake degree to enrol as a law student adding that his degree, mark sheet and roll number were "completely fabricated".

An FIR was then registered at the Hauz Khas police station on a complaint of the Bar Council of Delhi which alleged that he had submitted fake educational documents to the law body.