‘Common man believes bribe can buy anything’: HC upholds FIR against woman

Prayagraj: Taking exception to the growing perception among the common man that anything can be purchased with bribes, including academic degrees and university jobs, the Allahabad high court has refused to quash an FIR against a woman, accused of defrauding an aspirant of over Rs 22 lakh under the pretext of securing a PhD degree and an assistant professor job.

Dismissing a writ petition filed by the accused, Priyanka Senger, a division bench comprising Justice JJ Munir and Justice Tarun Saxena said that “even an educated woman was taken in by the fraud because of her faith in the efficacy of corrupt practices”.

“It shows a low state of moral fibre in society. Crimes of this kind, to regain and restore some morality in society, must not go unpunished... The allegations in the FIR disclose a chilling trend in society, where the common man has developed a perception that anything can be purchased with a bribe,” the HC said.

An FIR was lodged by Kanpur resident, Tanya Dixit, alleging that Sengar, along with co-accused Vikram Singh Sengar, Tripti Singh Sengar and Sanya Singh Sengar, assured her that she would be admitted to the PhD programme at an Aligarh-based university. They also promised her that they would secure an assistant professor job for her at a Kanpur varsity.

Relying on these assurances, Dixit and her mother transferred Rs 22.18 lakh to the bank accounts of the accused. The informant, however, never applied for the job or the academic programme. According to the allegations, in June 2024, the accused handed over a bundle of forged documents to Dixit, including a PhD marksheet, an admission letter, a topic approval letter and even an appointment letter from a Kanpur university asking her to join in July.

However, when she visited the university with her joining letter, the registrar informed her that all the documents were bogus and the signatures were forged. When she threatened the accused of legal action, they reportedly issued death threats. They also issued threats of false implication in heinous offences, forcing Dixit to lodge an FIR on Sept 14, 2024, under section 420 (cheating) and other sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Swaroop Nagar police station in Kanpur.

During the course of the hearing, the counsel for the accused-petitioner sought the quashing of the FIR based on parity, as two other accused had been granted interim relief by the HC.

The court, however, rejected this argument, noting that the orders cited were merely interim and tentative. The court added that admission to a PhD course or appointment to a university teaching post cannot be done except through the procedure prescribed under the rules.

“The PhD is earned from a university after following the PhD programme and completing it, whereas appointment to a teaching post in a varsity is granted after undergoing the recruitment process, involving advertisement of posts and applying for them. Nevertheless, the faith of the common man in the efficacy of corrupt ways has led the first informant to be duped by the petitioner,” the court said.

However, the court opined that the allegations in the FIR required to be “thoroughly and honestly” investigated by the police. Thus, finding it an unfit case for interference under Article 226 (writ jurisdiction) of the Constitution, the high court dismissed the writ petition in a decision dated Mar 31.