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. 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 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. 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. 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.