TN man gets five years rigorous imprisonment for forging documents to secure Puducherry MBBS seats for son, daughter

PUDUCHERRY: Puducherry chief judicial magistrate E M K Yashwanthrao Ingersol has sentenced a 61-year-old man to undergo five years of rigorous imprisonment for forging certificates of his son and daughter to get them MBBS admission in a college here through the Centralised Admission Committee (Centac). The CJM acquitted three others, including his son and daughter, as the prosecution failed to prove the charges against them. Three others booked in the case died during the course of trial.

According to assistant public prosecutor S Lokkeshvaran, R Sivapoosanam, a farmer from Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu, forged nativity, nationality, caste and birth certificates of his son and daughter and applied for their admission into the MBBS programme in 2004 under the Puducherry residents’ quota through Centac. The Centac scrutinised the certificates and found them to be forged.

The then Centac convenor, Y L N Reddy, lodged a complaint with Orleanpet police. Police booked Sivapoosanam, his four friends and brokers and his son and daughter under sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 468 (forgery for cheating) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) of the Indian Penal Code and began inquiries. His three friends - A Ramalingam, 47, P Kalyanasundaram, 45 and R Durai Panchajaram, 39 - died during trial.

The CJM pronounced the judgment on Friday. He sentenced Sivapoosanam to five years of rigorous imprisonment for cheating, five years of rigorous imprisonment for forgery, and one year of rigorous imprisonment for using the forged document. He imposed penalties totalling Rs 11,000. All the sentences will run concurrently. The CJM, however, acquitted his friend T Kumar, 38, his son and his daughter.


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