Twenty-five years after working with the Airports Authority of India (AAI), the public sector company sacked MG Jhunghare, the chief of air traffic control (ATC) in the western region for forging his caste certificate to get the job, sources told Hindustan Times on Friday.
Three independent sources told HT that AAI headquarters issued the order on Friday evening, which would be officially conveyed to him on Monday because their offices are shut for the weekend.
“It shouldn’t have taken this long but better late than never,” said a senior official.
The AAI stumbled on the Jhunghare’s case in 2006. It found that the man in-charge of flight movements in the country’s second busiest airport had furnished fake certificates about his caste and education in 1985 when he joined as trainee.
When vigilance officials asked Jhunghare to submit his caste certificate for cross-reference he claimed that the management had yet not returned the original copy. However, later it was found that all his batchmates who bagged the job under the reservation quota had got their certificates.
Jhunghare then submitted his deceased brother’s caste certificate, which showed his caste as Dhoba that falls in the scheduled tribe (ST) category. However, his school certificates reflected his caste as Dhobi, which falls under the other backward caste category in Maharashtra.
{{/usCountry}}Jhunghare then submitted his deceased brother’s caste certificate, which showed his caste as Dhoba that falls in the scheduled tribe (ST) category. However, his school certificates reflected his caste as Dhobi, which falls under the other backward caste category in Maharashtra.
{{/usCountry}}A Nagpur collector had ostensibly issued ST caste certificate to Jhunghare’s brother Prakash Jhunghare that turned out to be bogus.
Despite several attempts PK Nagpal, regional executive director, AAI did not respond to HT’s phone calls and text message.
AAI chairman VP Agarwal’s phone was not reachable. Jhunghare also did not pick HT’s calls and later his phone was switched off.