Fake marksheet racket: Court denies bail, cites risk of proof tampering

Kanpur: A Kanpur court on Tuesday rejected the bail plea of an alleged member of a forgery racket accused of preparing and selling fake university marksheets, certificates and degrees.

The court observed that the accused was part of an organised gang involved in producing forged educational documents and noted that releasing him at this stage could hamper the ongoing investigation and lead to destruction of evidence.Additional Sessions Judge (Court No. VII) Nisha Srivastava dismissed the bail application of Mayank Bharadwaj, who was arrested in connection with the case.The judge observed that the evidence collected by the investigating officer indicated that Mayank, along with co-accused Shailendra, Ashwani Kumar Singh, Jogendra, Mohd Azharuddin alias Shekhu, Vineet Kumar, Manish Kumar and others, had formed an organised gang that allegedly prepared forged marksheets and certificates of Asian International University, Manipur, and sold them to people for hefty sums.The court noted that police had seized 1,031 suspected forged marksheets and certificates from the accused and other members of the gang, which were being verified. At the time of Mayank’s arrest, two mobile phones were recovered from his possession, containing digital files of seven marksheets and certificates. Police also alleged that Mayank had signed photocopies of the forged educational documents.The judge further observed that 457 of the seized marksheets and certificates had already been verified as fake, including 284 purportedly issued by Asian International University, Manipur.

Observing that the accused had allegedly jeopardised the future of students by preparing forged educational documents for illegal financial gain, the court held that the offence was serious and the investigation was still underway.The defence argued that Mayank was innocent, had been falsely implicated and that nothing incriminating had been recovered from his possession. It also sought bail on the ground that his wife was in an advanced stage of pregnancy and required his care.Opposing the plea, assistant district govt counsel Vinod Tripathi submitted that Mayank was an active member of the racket. He said several images of forged marksheets and certificates were recovered from the accused’s mobile phones and that call records showed he had spoken to a co-accused 1,381 times. He argued that if released on bail, the accused could tamper with evidence or influence the investigation.Agreeing with the prosecution’s submissions, the court held that there was a strong possibility of the accused destroying evidence if released on bail and dismissed the application without commenting on the merits of the case.