EWS scam: 11 mothers need not appear

New Delhi: Eleven mothers, summoned as accused in the EWS admissions scam, can breathe a sigh of relief with a sessions court setting aside the summoning order issued against them. The court said they could not be charged merely on the basis of assumption or just because their children got admitted in the nursery class under the EWS quota.
“There is nothing on record to suggest that any of them had submitted false declarations or forged certificates with the school authority at any point of time or there was any overt act on the part of any of these petitioners,” said additional sessions judge (ASJ) Vidya Prakash.
In 2015, the Crime Branch of Delhi Police registered an FIR following a tip-off that admissions to the nursery class under the economically weaker section (EWS) category were done in several schools on the basis of false income certificates. Following the chargesheet, the trial court had found sufficient ground for proceeding against the mothers and summoned them on January 12, 2016.
The accused then challenged it before the sessions court on the ground that the order was passed in a mechanical fashion when there was not even an iota of evidence against them. Advocate Pradeep Rana, who appeared for a few of the mothers, argued that common admission forms under EWS category were neither signed by the petitioners nor by their husbands. It was also said they were victims of circumstances.
Contesting the defence’s argument, the prosecution claimed that the mothers were guilty of giving false information for securing admission for their children. The court was also informed that handwriting samples of the women had been sent to the forensic lab for testing. The report is yet to come.
The court, however, noted that the trial court “seems to have misdirected” itself while observing that these petitioners had “constructively and in a planned manner” secured seats illegally as these were meant for underprivileged children. The observations made by the trial court that these women had consciously signed applications with false declarations and forged certificates or submitted them for obtaining admission were totally contrary to record, ASJ Prakash said.
The court also said the prosecution had nowhere argued that the forged EWS certificates had been issued in the name of any of these petitioners. It, however, clarified that dropping of proceedings against these 11 mothers would not prevent the investigating agency from invoking appropriate charges if any evidence surfaced later or the report of the handwriting expert included any evidence against any of them.