Mumbai: A Jalgaon resident who had approached the Bombay High Court to get his Bachelor of Engineering (BE) degree revoked as he had secured it using unfair means was told to forget the episode “move on with life” by the court on Thursday.
Vaibhav Patil, 26, had approached the HC with the same plea last year, which it dismissed in October as there is no law to scrap an educational qualification secured through unfair means. Mr. Patil had sought directions to the University of Mumbai to cancel his BE degree, but was told the University Act did not provide for this. He had filed a review application, which came up for hearing before the same Bench, comprising Justices S.M. Kemkar and M.S. Karnik.
On Thursday, an exasperated Justice Kemkar said, “We have full sympathy for you. Try to forget all this and move on with your life. You committed a mistake so many years ago and continued with it till now. What problem do you face now?” To this, Mr. Patil replied that he was unable to get over his guilt. “I have not taken up a job since then. I approached the University in 2012 requesting them to revoke my graduation degree, but they did not do so.” He added he had consulted several psychiatrists, who prescribed medication and told him to not return.
The court, however, said its hands were tied legally, and Mr. Patil could approach the Supreme Court to challenge their order.
Mr. Patil, who hails from Jalgaon, completed his engineering course in 2011, specialising in Information Technology. He had failed his Maths II paper in the first year, and on his friend’s advice, had allegedly paid an agent around ₹20,000 to clear the subject.
The court also asked Mr. Patil that if he wishes so, he could give details of the agent, examiner or officials who helped him pass the examination to the university for further inquiry.
