Bombay HC Orders Medical Student Who Got OBC Reservation With Fake Non-Creamy Layer Certificate To Pay Rs.10 Lakh To State [Read Judgment]

In a significant order, the Bombay High Court has ordered a medical student to pay Rs.10 lakh to the State Government as she submitted a false Non-Creamy Layer Certificate to secure admission in the OBC quota.

This, the Court said would “recompense” the State Government to some extent for the expenditure incurred towards her education as a reserved category candidate.

Case Background

The bench of Justices VM Kanade and PR Bora passed these directions after hearing a petition filed by one Aishwarya Patil who challenged an order by the District Collector, Pune wherein he cancelled the Non-Creamy Layer Certificate issued to the petitioner on June 8, 2012.

This certificate was submitted by the petitioner at the time of her admission in BJ Medical College, Pune.

Thereafter, a writ petition was filed in the High Court by one Gauri Gharat who was also an aspiring medical student seeking admission under OBC quota. She contended that several fake Non-Creamy Layer Certificates have been issued by the authorities and sought an enquiry into 17 such cases.

Petitioner Aishwarya Patil was also one of these cases.

Enquiry conducted by the Deputy Commissioner, Social Welfare, Pune revealed that the petitioner’s certificate was false indeed. Therefore, her Non-Creamy Layer Certificate was cancelled.

Submissions and Observations

Senior Counsel AV Anturkar appeared for the petitioner. He submitted that as per the Government Circular dated March 25, 2013, the computation of the professional income of an applicant (for the Certificate) cannot include other sources of income like Agriculture, property etc.

Anturkar argued that the District Collector had not applied his mind in cancelling the said certificate and included the income of Petitioner’s father from other sources apart from his professional income.

According to the Circular, the gross income of the Candidate’s mother/father should not be more than 4.5 lakh for three preceding years.

Court noted that all the relevant documents indicate that the Gross Professional Income of petitioner’s father who is a Surgeon, was more than 4.5 lakh.

Petitioner’s father runs a 16-bed well-equipped hospital in Chinchwad, Pune.

Court observed:

We have purposely mentioned all these facts so as to indicate that such a person had opted for Non-Creamy   Layer Certificate and initially had succeeded in securing the same. We regretfully state that such a well-placed   person did also make such undesired attempt, which has resulted in depriving one genuine and deserving candidate, from getting the admission in Government Medical College for M.B.B.S. Course.

Thereafter, AV Anturkar sought protection of his client’s admission to the MBBS Course which she is on the verge of completing.

Relying on the Supreme Court’s stand in the case of State of Maharashtra v. Milind and a few other cases, Court decided to consider giving the petitioner’s admission protection.

Court noted how a deserving candidate in Gauri Gharat was deprived of admission and that the petitioner’s father should not have indulged in such fraud.

Hence, with “much reluctance”, Court allowed the petitioner to get her MBBS degree subject to a payment of Rs.10 lakh to the State.

Read the Judgment here.