Mumbai: A 26-year-old engineering graduate has moved the Bombay high court seeking that the University of Mumbai authorities be directed to take back his degree, which he said was secured in 2011 via fraudulent means.
According Vaibhav Patil, he had allegedly paid a bribe to obtain his engineering degree. The HC has now asked MU’s lawyer to file an affidavit stating the policy of the university in such matters, and also whether it would revoke the degree.
According to Mr Patil, his conscience has been pricking him ever since he secured the fake degree. He added that he approached the court after certain university officials told him to consult a psychiatrist if the issue was troubling him.
Mr Patil’s move may have put the university in a bind. Speaking to The Asian Age, MU’s lawyer Rui Rodrigues said, “While there is a provision under the Maharashtra University Act to revoke a degree, there is no provision related to the surrender of a degree.”
In a letter to the chancellor of the university, which was annexed to his petition, Mr Patil said, “For the past four years, I have been trying to forget this incident, but I could not do so. Even today, I don’t feel normal. I am mentally disturbed due to this one incident.”
In the letter, Mr Patil also confessed, “I failed in one subject in the second year of my engineering course. But I had managed to clear that subject after paying money to someone.”
