'Agriculture superintending engineer produced fake certificate to get promotion'

HYDERABAD: A probe by the vigilance and enforcement department has established that the B Tech degree certificate produced by a senior engineer in the agriculture and marketing department in order to get promoted to the rank of superintending engineer (SE) was fake.
K Radhakrishna Murthy was promoted to his present rank based on a B Tech (Civil) degree in August 2009.Later, a complaint received by the department stated that the degree, which he secured in 2006 from Institute of Advanced Studies in Education (IASE), a deemed university of Rajasthan, was fake and not valid.
The then marketing commissioner referred the matter to AP Lokayukta. A thorough probe was also ordered by vigilance and enforcement officials to check if Radhakrishna Murthy misled the government. As per rules, to get promoted to the rank of SE, a candidate must have a BE degree from any recognised university under Central Act or State Act. Murthy produced a B Tech degree from IASE through distance mode. Without verifying the the certificate, the department promoted him to the SE rank.
Later, the vigilance department got the certificate verified by UGC, Distance Education Council of India and AICTE. The UGC informed the AP State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE) that IASE was not granted approval to run the B Tech course through distance mode. The Distance Education Council of India, New Delhi, confirmed it. AICTE made it clear that it had not accorded any permission to IASE to run engineering courses in distance mode.
The vigilance inquiry report (No.15(438/V&E/E1/2010-HYD City-II) said that the certificate produced by Murthy was not valid as the institute was not approved by the UGC, DEC and AICTE. The report observed that Murthy had misled the screening committee by knowingly suppressing the facts regarding the validity of his degree.
Now, the department of agriculture marketing and cooperation had issued a memo to the SE to produce his original certificate for verification. If he fails to do so, he may be demoted.