Sikkim: EIILM University moves High Court against new FIR

Gangtok, 22 May 2013:

The Eastern Institute of Integrated Learning in Management [EIILM] University, Sikkim, has challenged the police action and sought the quashing of the FIR against its senior officials against which arrests were effected early this month.

This, in a petition moved in the High Court. The senior EIILM Univ officials have meanwhile since been released on bail.

While hearing the plea on Monday, the single bench of Justice SP Wangdi allowed for notices to be issued to the state respondents.

In a Criminal Miscellaneous case, the EIILM University has challenged the suo-moto FIR by Sadar Police Station at Gangtok. It has contended that the police action was “purely an abuse of power” in as much as the selling of degrees, diplomas and certificates of various courses without conducting classes on the basis of field verification report of the Additional District Collector Gangtok.

In the field verification report of the ADC, it is alleged that there was neither a department nor faculty in the University campus and no record to indicate the stay of Mandeep Kaur in Sikkim to pursue her course of Master of Arts [Education] in 2010-2012, though the University has maintained that the certificate is genuine.

The ADC, Gangtok, in his field verification report, stated that there was no department for Master of Arts [Education] course being run in the campus of the said University, besides, no approval of the Distance Education Council [DEC] has been accorded to this University for running the said course in distance mode.

“However, ADC has not cross verified the genuineness of the certificate issued to Mandeep Kaur such as answer scripts and enrollment adding that the certificate awarded to her was under distance course, which was reflected even in the verification report of ADC,” the University is now countering.

The EIILM University has said that the certificate awarded to Mandeep Kaur in 2011 and there is no complaint from the private person alleging the issuance of false and fake certificates by the University.

While challenging the police action and second FIR in Gangtok [the University was already booked on similar charges by South District cops last year], it is alleged that since the police officers were fully aware of the previous FIR, a second FIR in Gangtok was highly motivated as no offence was committed within the jurisdiction of East district.

The second case stems from the case of Mandeep Kaur [mentioned earlier] against whose degree, the Minerva College at Haryana had sought information through RTI on genuineness of the certificate awarded to her by EIILM Univ.

The EIILM Univ counsel has argued that the Supreme Court in 2001 laid down the law, wherein it was held that there can be no second FIR and there can be no fresh investigation on receipt of every subsequent information of the same cognizable offence or the same occurrence or incident giving rise to one or more cognizable office.

Courtesy: necalling.com