Kerala High Court Grants Interim Anticipatory Bail To KSU Leader Ansil Jaleel In Case Alleging Forgery Of Degree Certificate

The Kerala High Court has granted interim anticipatory bail to Kerala Students Union (KSU) State Convenor Ansil Jaleel, in the case against him alleging forgery of degree certificate. 

The Single Judge Bench of Justice Ziyad Rahman A.A. directed Jaleel to appear before the Investigation Officer within a week. The Court stated that Jaleel shall be released on bail on execution of a bond for Rs. 50,000/-, in the event of his arrest. 

The case surfaced when a Malayalam newspaper published an article alleging Jaleel to have forged a degree certificate from Kerala University to secure employment at Muthoot Finance, a private financial institution.

The said news report gained significant traction and was extensively discussed on various media platforms. Pursuant to the same, Jaleel appeared before various news medias and denied the allegations. He also issued a legal notice to the newspaper, demanding compensation and a public apology for allegedly publishing baseless and false information. He also lodged a complaint with the District Police Chief, Alappuzha, urging an investigation into the conspiracy behind the forgery of the false certificate.

During this time, a member of the Kerala University Senate filed a complaint with the Vice Chancellor of Kerala University, seeking an investigation into the authenticity of the certificate. It is said the Vice Chancellor, without conducting a preliminary enquiry, forwarded the complaint to the Director General of Police. Jaleel was accordingly booked for non-bailable offences under Sections 465 (Punishment for forgery), 466 (Forgery of record of Court or of public register, etc.), 468 (Forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (Using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), and 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of IPC.

Jaleel averred that a careful perusal of the purported certificate would indicate that the document claimed to be a B.Com Degree Certificate, while Jaleel, who has a Humanities background, had enrolled in BA Hindi Literature at SD College Alapuzha in 2014 before discontinuing the same following personal issues. He claimed that the said discrepancy suggested that the forged certificate was created by someone lacking knowledge of his basic background details. He further alleged that the forgery was orchestrated merely to divert media attention and malign his reputation.

The Court today further stated that the interim order issued by it would be in force for a period of two weeks. 

Advocates Susanth Shaji, Albin A. Joseph, and Sidharth O. appeared on behalf of the petitioner. 

Case Title: Ansil v. State of Kerala