AAP Minister Jitendra Tomar's case: Bhagalpur University cancels law degree
After a marathon meeting, the Senate of Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University has cancelled the LLB degree of former Delhi law minister Jitendra Singh Tomar. The TMBU Syndicate had in December ratified the decision of the exam board and disciplinary committee to cancel the degree. It had also approved legal proceedings against university employees who had helped him secure the degree.
Law Minister of Delhi-Jitendra Tomar was arrested on 9 June for cheating and using a fraudulent law degree while contesting the elections. An FIR was registered in the Hauz Khas Police Station where he was taken for questioning. His arrest created a stir in the capital, and was seen largely as the maneuver of the opposition to create problems for AAP in Delhi.
After his arrest on the issue of fabricated educational qualifications, Delhi's Law Minister resigned on 10 June. The Delhi court had remanded him to a 4 day police custody. The police planned to take Tomar to Bhagalpur (Bihar) and Faizabad (UP) to verify his qualifications. The Delhi Police came under attack for having arrested the minister without any notice or prior information.
AAP leaders Ashutosh and Kumar Vishwas leveled the blame of Tomar's arrest on Modi's attempt to create an "emergency-like" situation in Delhi. Calling the arrest unconstitutional, Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia called it an attempt "by the Modi government to teach AAP a lesson." Sanjay Singh the AAP Chief of Himachal Pradesh had also blamed the PM for Jitendra Tomar's arrest.
People took to Twitter to question the determinant and timing of Tomar's arrest and within hours #ModiScaredOfArvind started trending on Twitter and became the top trend.
The Bhagalpur University confirmed that Tomar's qualifications are indeed ingenuine. Tomar had registered with the Bar Council of Delhi on the basis of a certificate from Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University. In an internal enquiry, the University found that the certificate number 3687 that Mr Tomar claimed as his, was "issued to one Sanjay Chaudhary for Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Political Science."
Kapil Mishra took over as the new Law Minister after Tomar's arrest over the fake law degree. Before this, Mishra was the vice-chairman of the Delhi Jal Board. Mishra is an MLA from Karawal Nagar, where he defeated Mohan Singh Bisht in the Delhi Assembly elections (2015). Mishra has been associated with Kejriwal since his 'India Against Corruption' days.
