3-year jail to two who faked marksheet for higher education

Lucknow: As part of Operation Conviction, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Lucknow, secured the conviction of two accused in a fake marksheet and illegal recruitment case. The Court of the Special Judge, Prevention of Corruption, CBI (Central), Lucknow, presided over by Judge Rabindra Kumar Dwivedi, sentenced Ashok Kumar and Agra University employee Ranveer Singh to three years of simple imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs 1 lakh. According to prosecution records, Ashok Kumar of Agra, originally passed his BA examination in 1988 from Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar University (then Agra University), securing 352 out of 800 marks in third division. He later cleared his BEd examination in 1992 from Vaishnav College, Agra, scoring 482 out of 800 marks.
However, the investigation revealed that Ashok Kumar prepared forged BA and BEd marksheets in connivance with university employees Ranveer Singh and Shailendra Gupta. Using the fabricated documents, he secured admission in 2007 to the Vishisht BTC course at DIET Agra. On the basis of the illegally obtained Vishisht BTC degree, he subsequently obtained an appointment as an assistant teacher at a primary school in Nagla Chakrapan, Agra district. The probe conducted by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW SIT) established that the accused deliberately manipulated academic records to fraudulently secure govt employment. During the trial, senior prosecution officer Lal Sahab Singh effectively examined 17 prosecution witnesses, while court liaison officer Sumit Yadav ensured the timely production of witnesses. Based on strong documentary and oral evidence, the court held both Ashok Kumar and Ranveer Singh guilty.