Gujarat High Court Upholds Cancellation Of Student's LLB Degree Due To 'Fraudulent' Graduation Certificate Used For Admission

The Gujarat High Court has upheld the cancellation of an LLB degree after discovering that the petitioner's graduation certificate, used for admission, was fraudulent.

Dismissing an appeal challenging the single judge's order, the division bench, comprising Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranav Trivedi, affirmed the respondent University's decision to annul the petitioner's LLB results.

The bench observed, “The learned Single Judge has, thus, rightly concluded that the petitioner being the perpetrator of fraud cannot seek any indulgence from the Court, that too on the plea that opportunity of hearing has not been granted to him. When the concerned University on verification of the mark-sheets and other documents had communicated that the petitioner was never admitted in the said University, nor the mark-sheet or other educational certificates of graduation course were issued by it, the purpose of giving an opportunity would be an empty formality, more so, when the communication issued by the Shridhar University, on verification of the documents could not be disputed before the learned Single Judge or before us.”

Background

The Applicant, Mehul Champaneria had completed a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in May 2013 from Shridhar University in Pilani, Rajasthan, and used this degree to gain admission into the LLB course at Veer Narmad South Gujarat University. On June 11, 2015, the University issued a provisional eligibility certificate based on the grades submitted by Champaneria. After further verification, a final eligibility certificate was granted on December 9, 2015. Champaneria completed the LLB course and received his degree.

However, when applying to the Bar Council for enrollment, Champaneria's documents came under scrutiny. The Bar Council discovered that the certificates from Shridhar University were suspected to be fake. Upon investigation, Shridhar University confirmed that Champaneria had never been a student there and that the submitted documents, including mark sheets, were fraudulent. This led to the annulment of Champaneria's LLB results by the University and the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against him.

During the court proceedings, the Chief Justice, orally emphasised, "Go and sue the university. File a suit, seek damage if you have been defrauded but your admission cannot be regularised, your degree cannot be regularised. That university cannot be faulted in cancelling your LLB examinations."

When the petitioner's lawyer suggested the need for an enquiry, the Chief Justice firmly dismissed the notion, stating, "What enquiry? This is a fraudulent void ab initio. Where is the question of enquiry? Opportunity of hearing would come when you have something to say. Now after verification the university said that we have never issued this degree, this is not issued by us, the petitioner has played fraud. That reply of the university was served to you. That was sufficient."

The Chief Justice further explained, “For the graduation degree, you got from some other university and then took admission in LLB in another university. Now the first university where you took admission in graduation and you got a degree. Though that university says that you were never admitted, you have not undergone admission; this degree is not issued by us. This is a fraudulent document. That was the basis of your admission in the LLB admission.”

"Now any other certificate, any other communication, any other document issued by the second university from where you have done LLB is a waste piece of paper, it's a void document because you have defrauded the university. You have played fraud by securing admission in LLB examination by producing a forged marksheet of the graduate examination," the CJ added.

The Chief Justice further remarked that any document issued by the university before the discovery of the fraud would not assist the petitioner.

The Court observed in its order that it was sufficient to note the reason for the cancellation of the entire result of the LLB examination across all semesters, as noted by the Single Judge, was that the petitioner had secured admission in the LLB course at the respondent University by producing a graduation degree allegedly obtained from Shridhar University, Pilani, Rajasthan.

The Court further observed that the order impugned before the Single Judge recorded that upon verification of the mark sheets for the petitioner's Bachelor of Arts degree from Shridhar University, Pilani, Rajasthan, it was discovered, as per communication dated 02.06.2021 from Shridhar University, that the petitioner was never a student of that University, and the submitted documents, including mark sheets, were not genuine.

The Court noted that this fact came to the attention of the Bar Council of Gujarat upon verification of the educational testimonials submitted by the petitioner while seeking registration with the Bar Council of Gujarat to pursue law practice. When these facts were brought to the knowledge of the respondent University, it cancelled the petitioner's LLB course mark sheets upon intimation from the Bar Council of Gujarat, the Court noted.

While dismissing the LPA, the Chief Justice orally remarked, "I think he should have argued the matter as a party in person. He wanted to become a lawyer. If the person who wants to become a lawyer does this kind of activity, it's better he should not come to our institution. He should have argued this matter as a trainee advocate without any kind of certificates."

Case Title: MEHUL SURESHKUMAR CHAMPANERIA Versus VEER NARMAD SOUTH GUJARAT UNIVERSITY THROUGH SECRETARY

LL Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Guj) 112

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