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Student to pay costs for getting admission on rejected ST certificate

J. Venkatesan

If he fails to pay, government may recall engineering degree

He should not seek further benefit on ST claim
He can’t retain financial benefits extended by State

New Delhi: Taking a serious view of a student obtaining an engineering degree by producing a rejected ST certificate, the Supreme Court has directed him to pay the Maharashtra government expenses it incurred towards his fee, scholarship or any other concession.

He was permitted to pursue the course under the ST quota on Bombay High Court directions, a Bench consisting of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice R.V. Raveendran pointed out. It asked the State to calculate the expenses and raise a demand for payment. If he failed to pay the dues within six months, the government might recall his degree. “If no amount is found due or if the amount determined and demanded is paid by the appellant, he may be permitted to retain the degree.”

Writing the judgment, the Chief Justice said: “There may be cases where it will not be proper to permit the student to retain the degree obtained by making a false claim. One example is where candidates secure seats by producing forged or fake caste certificates. There may be cases, where knowing full well that they do not belong to the ST/SC, candidates may make a false claim that they belong to an ST/SC. There may also be cases where even before the date of admission, caste certificates might have been invalidated on verification by a scrutiny committee.”

In this case, there was no allegation that the appellant forged or faked the caste certificate. As he was admitted to the engineering degree nearly 13 years ago, he should be permitted to retain his certificate on condition that he would not seek any further benefit by claiming that belonged to a Scheduled Tribe. Further, he could not retain the financial benefits extended by the State by way of expenses incurred for his professional degree, the Bench said.

Yogesh Ramachandra Naikwadi sought admission claiming that he belonged to Mahadeo Kol, an ST. The scrutiny committee rejected his claim in March 1995. However, the High Court by an interim order directed the State to admit him under the ST quota. But in March 2006, it asked the State to recall his degree. He filed the present appeal against this judgment.

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