Expose fake Himachal colleges, court tells CBI
Shimla, Aug 9 (IANS) The Himachal Pradesh High Court Tuesday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to reveal names of all educational institutions in the state which secured recognition based on fake documents.
The court was hearing a petition alleging that a private institute in the state got recognition to conduct educational courses from the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) on the basis of fake documents.
The division bench comprising Chief Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Sanjay Karol directed the CBI to conduct an inquiry and find out how many educational institutions were working in the state having secured recognition using fake documents.
"Submit a report in sealed cover to the court within three months that how many educational institutions that procured no-objection certificate or got clearance from central regulating agencies like the NCTE on the basis of false representations," the court directed the CBI.
"It is open for the CBI to take appropriate action under law on the basis of its investigation and it should not wait for the permission of the court to take appropriate action in accordance with law," the court said.
The court's direction came on a petition by V.P. Ahluwalia, a former principal of government post-graduate college in Dhaliara in Kangra district.
Ahluwalia alleged that Rajesh Thakur, director of Thakur College of Education in Dhaliara, used fake documents to get recognition from the NCTE tom run its courses.
He alleged the Himachal Pradesh University and the NCTE were not taking any action on his complaints.
On Ahluwalia's complaint, the CBI has registered a case against Ajit Singh Rana, the then regional director of NCTE in Rajasthan's Jaipur.
The petition alleged that Rana abused his official position while granting recognition to the college in Dhaliara in 2007-08.
The court directed the CBI and the state's vigilance department and the anti-corruption bureau to conduct probe in a coordinated manner so that there was no conflict between the agencies.