NSUI national secretary Akshay Kumar submitted fake degree for admission in PhD course, says Delhi University official

New Delhi: NSUI national secretary Akshay Kumar allegedly submitted fake documents to secure admission in the Department of Buddhist Studies, a Delhi University official said on Monday, amid controversy over alleged fake degree case of DUSU president and ABVP's Ankiv Baisoya.

The official said the matter came to light after the department got verified in January this year degrees of all students who had enrolled for PhD courses. It was found that Kumar, who was also elected as the joint secretary of Delhi University Students' Union in 2010, had allegedly submitted fake MA (English) marksheets, he said, adding an FIR was registered at the Maurice Nagar police station in north district by the Department on 16 March this year.

File i,mage of NSUI National Secretary Akshay Kumar. Akshay Kumar II/Facebook

According to the FIR filed by the Department of Buddhist Studies, Kumar had enrolled for the PhD programme in March 2017 and had submitted MA (English) marksheets from Manav Bharti University in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh. His marksheets were sent to the university which denied issuing them, the department has alleged in the FIR.

The official said the department will now take Kumar's matter to the Departmental Research Committee with a copy of the FIR and alleged forged documents and a recommendation will be made for the cancellation of admission. The Departmental Research Committee will forward the recommendation to the Board of Research Studies of the varsity which will further look into the case.

"A due process is followed in such cases. The decisions are not taken in a haste," said the official. Saimon Farooqui, the all-India media and communications manager of the Congress-affiliated National Students' Union of India, said these are tactics by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) to divert attention from Baisoya's case.

"The ABVP is raking up these issues to deviate attention from the actual issue (involving Baisoya). If the FIR was registered a few months ago, why is it being highlighted now? If the matter comes to our notice (of Kumar's fake degree), we will set up an investigative committee to look into the case," he added. He said the varsity should have taken suo-motu cognisance of Baisoya's case and taken action.

Another NSUI office-bearer said the department had got the FIR registered without due verification which is a reason why the police have not yet taken any action against Kumar. Last week, the NSUI had alleged ABVP's Baisoya had submitted fake documents to gain admission in the varsity. They had released a letter from Thiruvalluvar University sent in response to a communication from the student's body which stated that the BA certificate submitted by Basoya from the university is fake.