Delhi Court convicts 4 for 3 yrs in UGC clerk exam impersonation case

The CBI case dates back to 2015 and involved hiring proxies for written and typing tests to secure jobs through illegal means.

A Delhi court has sentenced four persons to three years of imprisonment for impersonating candidates in an examination conducted for the post of Lower Divisional Clerk at the University Grants Commission, holding that the offence was committed despite full knowledge of its illegality.

Investigators flagged the fraud after poor job performance led to a retest, which the accused failed. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The sentencing order was passed on December 22 by additional chief judicial magistrate Mayank Goel of the Rouse Avenue Courts.

In a common observation for the convicts, the court said, “The offence in question was committed by the convict with his eyes wide open and with full knowledge that the act committed by him is illegal. Despite being aware of the crime committed by him, he did not plead guilty before the court and chose to contest the case, which unfortunately dragged on for about 9 years.”

The case was registered by the anti-corruption branch of the Central Bureau of Investigation in 2015. The accused, identified as Pappu Kumar, Pawan Kumar, Rajeev Ranjan and Rishi Nath, were candidates for the post of Lower Divisional Clerks at the University Grants Commission. Investigators alleged that they hired unidentified persons to appear in the written and typing tests on their behalf to secure employment through illegal means.

In its chargesheet filed in 2019, the CBI alleged that the accused, in conspiracy with each other and unknown persons, committed serious fraud with the malafide intention of cheating the UGC and causing wrongful financial loss.

The agency said suspicion arose after the candidates’ work performance was found unsatisfactory, following which a fresh typing test was conducted, which all four failed. Authorities then obtained the accused persons’ thumb impressions and sent them for forensic examination.

The results did not match the impressions recorded at the examination centre, revealing collusion to facilitate impersonation,the agency said.

In its judgement dated December 11, the court held that expert and forensic evidence conclusively established impersonation. “It is settled law by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India… that the science of identification of fingerprints has attained near perfection and the risk of an incorrect opinion is practically non-existent,” the court said, adding that criminal conspiracy and cheating by impersonation were proved beyond reasonable doubt.