Delhi court orders FIR against 3, including 2 DU professors, in job fraud case

A Delhi court ordered police to investigate three individuals, including two DU professors, for allegedly cheating a woman over a fake job offer.

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has ordered the city police to lodge a case against three people, including two Delhi University assistant professors, for allegedly forging documents and cheating a woman on the pretext of providing her a teaching job in the university.

Victim was terminated from her job on October 29, 2024. Due to the alleged lack of any action on the police complaint, she moved to court, seeking action against the accused. (HT Archive)

In an order passed on July 1 by Judicial Magistrate First Class Gaurav Katariya of Rohini Courts, the judge said that an investigation into the matter was necessary to ascertain whether any similar victims exist, given the alleged organised and pre-planned nature of the racket targeting employment-seeking candidates.

The FIR came on an application moved by a 28-year-old woman, through advocates Pradeep Khatri and Pranjal Bhaskar.

Formerly an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at DU’s Bharti College, the woman alleged that she came into contact with a person who claimed to be a doctor at AIIMS, who subsequently introduced her to two people, one an assistant professor at Dayal Singh College and the other at Bharti College.

The complainant claimed that the accused helped her publish three research articles in journals and assisted her in filling out the application forms, as a result of which she was selected as an assistant professor on November 23, 2023.

However, things took a turn when, on August 8, 2024, the college principal told her that an RTI enquiry into her published research articles had allegedly found them to be fake. Subsequently, the university issued her a show-cause notice regarding the fabrication of her candidature.

The accused told her that the articles were alleged clone copies and that they had been published through a publication; however, the complainant found no legitimate address for the publication.

The accused asked her to arrange ₹25 lakhs if she wanted to regain her employment.

She was terminated from her job on October 29, 2024. Due to the alleged lack of any action on the police complaint, she moved to court, seeking action against the accused.

The court noted that the accused allegedly provided the complainant with fake journal copies and forged publication certificates, leading her to genuinely believe that her articles had been published.

“The dishonest intention on the part of the accused persons appears to be evident from the outset, prima facie satisfying the essential ingredients of cheating,” the court said.

The court said that what makes an act criminally liable is the existence of fraudulent intent. “In this case, such an intention appears evident from the very outset. The alleged making of a false document, combined with the deliberate supply of fake certificates to the complainant, collectively points to a dishonest and fraudulent state of mind on the part of all three accused,” it noted.