‘More takers than jobs in India’: Rajasthan High Court denies bail to duo who paid Rs 16 lakh for fake medical certificates

The high court observed that the proliferation of forged educational documents strikes at the very root of competitive examinations, heavily prejudicing genuine and meritorious candidates.

FMGE is a mandatory licensing test for Indian citizens who have earned their primary medical degree from abroad and want to practice medicine in India.

Justice Praveer Bhatnagar said that such acts seriously prejudice the rights of meritorious candidates.

The Rajasthan High Court observed that acts of forgery compromise the sanctity of the examination process.

“Since surely there must have been thousands of people who appeared for the exam, and the respondent-accused persons, for their own benefit, tried to compromise the sanctity of the exam, possibly affecting so many of those who would have put in earnest effort to appear in the exam in the hopes of securing a job, we concur with the view of the Trial Court that they are not entitled to the benefit of bail,” it said.

The Rajasthan High Court further observed that each such act allegedly committed by the accused represents possible “chinks” in the faith of people in public administration and the executive.

Larger social impact

• The Rajasthan High Court observed that it cannot remain oblivious to the increasing trend of preparing and using forged educational documents, marksheets, degree certificates and examination credentials for securing professional opportunities and employment.
• It added that such acts not only strike at the root of the sanctity and credibility of competitive examinations but also seriously prejudice the rights of genuine and meritorious candidates competing through lawful means.
• The court held that offences involving the fabrication of examination-related documents and fraudulent procurement of professional credentials have far-reaching consequences on public confidence in institutional and regulatory systems.
• The Rajasthan High Court also reiterated that every accused person enjoys a presumption of innocence until the charges are proved beyond a reasonable doubt and observed that the accused persons must stand trial so that the allegations may be tested in accordance with the law.
• However, considering the gravity and nature of the allegations and the larger societal impact of such organised fraudulent activities, the Rajasthan High Court declined to grant bail to the accused persons.

Criminal conspiracy, forged certificate

• It was alleged that despite having failed multiple attempts in the FMGE examination, the accused petitioner, Piyush Kumar Trivedi, entered into a criminal conspiracy with co-accused Shubham Gurjar and Devendra Singh Gurjar for the procurement of a fake roll number upon payment of Rs 6 lakh.
• Subsequently, a forged screening test pass certificate was procured and thereafter utilised by the petitioner, Piyush Kumar Trivedi, for seeking internship counselling through the Rajasthan Medical Council (RMC), based on which he also completed an internship by using forged and fabricated documents.
• The chargesheet further revealed that Trivedi had contacted Shubham for arranging a forged screening test pass certificate, allegedly prepared through co-accused Devendra.
• Then Shubham and Devendra allegedly approached co-accused Bhana Ram Saini regarding financial arrangements for the procurement of the forged certificate and facilitation of registration with the RMC.
• Subsequently, an amount of Rs 16 lakh was agreed to be paid for the said illegal arrangement, out of which Rs 3 lakh was to be paid in advance.

FIR lodged to ‘settle personal scores’

Appearing for the petitioners, advocate Jitendra Pandey contended before the Rajasthan High Court that owing to matrimonial and personal disputes between the family of petitioner Trivedi and the complainant, the present First Information Report (FIR) has been lodged with an oblique motive to settle personal scores.

It was further submitted that the petitioners had pursued their Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) course from Georgia and had appeared for the FMGE earlier, but they did not know the alleged forged nature of the FMGE result and certificate.

Sanctity, credibility undermined

Public prosecutor Shree Ram Dhakar opposed the bail applications and submitted before the Rajasthan High Court that, despite having failed FMGE, the accused persons, in collusion with other co-accused, procured a forged FMGE Screening Test Pass Certificate and a fake roll number after payment of huge monetary consideration.

It was added that verification by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) revealed that the said roll number belonged to another candidate. The forged certificate was subsequently used for obtaining internship counselling through the RMC, it was pointed out.

Dhakar also submitted before the Rajasthan High Court that offences of the present nature have serious societal ramifications as they undermine the sanctity and credibility of competitive examinations and professional regulatory systems.