Fake degree row: NSUI will move high court if DU doesn’t act

The National Students Union of India (NSUI), Congress’s student wing, on Thursday said it will move the Delhi high court if the Delhi University administration does not take action against the newly elected students’ union president Ankiv Baisoya by Monday.

The NSUI has accused Baisoya, a member of RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), of allegedly submitting fake documents to get admission to the Master’s in Buddhist Studies programme.

The NSUI on Tuesday circulated what they claimed was Baisoya’s bachelor’s degree along with a letter from Tamil Nadu‘s Thiruvalluvar University, claiming that it was a fake.

V Peruvalluthi, registrar of Thiruvalluvar University, also confirmed that the certificate sent by the NSUI for verification was a fake.

The NSUI on Wednesday wrote to DU vice-chancellor Yogesh Tyagi seeking action against Baisoya.

“If the administration will not take action by Monday, we will move the Delhi high court. It shows the partisan nature of the DU administration,” NSUI national in-charge Ruchi Gupta said.

KT Saroa, head of DU’s department of Buddhist Studies, however, said he has received multiple complaints in the matter on Thursday. He said the department is going to conduct a meeting of its admission committee on Monday . “We are going to investigate the matter seriously. We are also thinking of checking all admissions done in the department this year. There is a possibility that there are other similar cases,” Saroa said.

The ABVP said that it will co-operate with the university’s inquiry. “The ABVP will fully cooperate if the university goes for a verification. If Baisoya is found guilty, then he must face the legal action. If he comes out clean, then all those who have spread this propaganda must face legal action for mentally harassing him,” ABVP national spokesperson Monika Chaudhary said.

The ABVP claimed that Baisoya had enrolled there in 2013 but did not attend classes as he was a regular student at the Thiruvalluvar University. “He had withdrawn his admission from CVS in 2016 the moment he came to know that as per the UGC’s guidelines, he cannot be a registered student in two educational institutions simultaneously. He completed his graduation from the TN university only,” she said.

The ABVP accused former DUSU president Rocky Tusheed of NSUI of illegally using the student union funds of ₹10 lakh despite being declared “ineligible” to hold the post by the Delhi high court.