SFI state secretary PM Arsho tried to double down on the claims that the certificate was genuine, but the universities burst that bubble.
SFI leader Nikhil Thomas. (Supplied)
Despite its assertions of value-based politics, Kerala’s ruling CPI(M) has landed in yet another awkward situation, thanks to a slew of fraud allegations against leaders of its student wing, the Students’ Federation of India (SFI).
The latest among them involves a prominent SFI leader from Kayamkulam near Alappuzha, who secured admission to the MCom programme of a government-aided private college under the Kerala University by submitting an allegedly counterfeit degree certificate.
The controversy surrounding SFI leader Nikhil Thomas is haunting the CPI(M) at a time its government is losing face over a former SFI women’s wing leader continuing to abscond after being named in a case of forging fake experience certificates to obtain guest lecturer jobs in different government colleges.
It is almost a fortnight since the leader went underground, and the state police are searching in vain.
And all this is happening even as the police are investigating a recent incident in which SFI state secretary PM Arsho — a student of the autonomous Maharaja’s College in Kochi — was shown as “passed” in the marks list published by the institution.
However, he did not sit for any examination.
A former SFI district committee member in Alappuzha, Thomas was a university union counsellor elected from the Milad-E-Sherif Memorial (MSM) College when he managed a degree certificate from Kalinga University.
In 2021, Thomas managed to get enrolment for MCom in the MSM College using the degree certificate claimed to have been issued by Kalinga University.
As per the certificate, Thomas completed the degree in Kalinga between 2019 and 2021.
Talking to local media, MSM College’s managing trustee disclosed that after strong political pressure from some CPI(M) leaders, the college agreed to give Thomas admission to the postgraduate programme.
As per the general guidelines for admission to all the affiliated colleges of Kerala University, the admission process to post-graduation courses was supposed to end by the third week of January 2022.
However, the university syndicate instructed all colleges on 30 January that admissions could be permitted until 31 January.
Interestingly, Thomas was admitted on 31 January, 2022, at 4 pm, and the MSM College did not question the degree certificate from Kalinga during the admission process.
Kerala University Vice-Chancellor Dr Mohan Kunnummal told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday, 19 June, that Thomas was a BCom student of the MSM College in Kayamkulam between 2017 and 2020, but failed to pass the qualifying examination.
Quoting records, the vice-chancellor said Thomas had barely 75 percent attendance in the college — something that is mandatory these days to pass a course — and was unsuccessful in completing the final examination.
Despite that, the vice-chancellor confirmed that Thomas was currently in the final year of the MCom course at the same college.
“When we verified the admission records based on complaints, we found his BCom degree certificate, given by Kalinga University in Chhattisgarh. We are concerned about the genuineness of the certificate as our records show that he was our student during the same period, and he did not pass the exam,” said Kunnummal.
“How can a person pursue the same course at two different universities simultaneously? From preliminary observation of his certificate from Kalinga University, we have concluded that it’s fake. We will now write to Kalinga University and then act accordingly,” said Kunnummal.
Within hours, Malayalam news channels Asianet and Manorama contacted Kalinga University registrar Sandeep Gandhi in Raipur, and he confirmed that the university had awarded no such certificate.
The registrar was shown in television news bulletins saying that criminal proceedings would be initiated against Thomas for forging the fake degree certificate from the university and submitting it for admission to a post-graduation course in Kerala.
Meanwhile, Thomas has been suspended by MSM College. Kalinga University has also started an investigation.
P M Arsho
However, all these developments happened hours after Arsho held a detailed press meeting in Thiruvananthapuram, defending Thomas strongly in the fake degree certificate controversy and coming down heavily on the news media for “singling out” the emerging leader for “character assassination”.
Arsho claimed that Thomas’ certificate was genuine, and that the Kalinga University had provisions to appear for qualifying examinations without being regular in classes.
He said Thomas obtained admission properly and by producing an original certificate.
“There is no irregularity in his MCom admission. He wrote the exam and qualified,” said Arsho on Monday morning, without expecting a rebuttal from Kerala and Kalinga Universities.
He also tried to justify how Nikhil was attending degree courses at two universities simultaneously.
“In 2013, the UGC clarified that a student may enroll in two degree courses simultaneously. However, one degree should be cancelled after completion. Thomas cancelled his registration at Kerala University,” he claimed.
Arsho also accused the news media of vilifying the SFI and its leaders to defame the CPI(M)-led LDF government in Kerala and its achievements in the higher-education sector.
He also repeated CPI(M) state secretary MV Govindan’s allegation that news outlets in Kerala were showing a negative attitude towards the party, its feeder organisations, and the government because of their antipathy to Communist ideology and its implementation in the state.
However, Kunnummal disclosed that Kerala University would seek an explanation from the college principal on how Thomas managed admission to the post-graduation course in the same college without passing the degree examination held there.
He also wondered why the college authorities felt nothing was amiss in a failed student submitting an alternative degree certificate of the same period from a different university.
“We will now send notices to both the principal and Thomas to come and explain,” said Kunnummal.
He has also indicated the possibility of registering a police case.
The adverse developments are happening at a time when SFI and CPI(M) were planning to award Thomas higher political responsibilities.
Interestingly, a fellow SFI activist’s complaint brought the alleged fraud committed by the leader to the public domain.
Though the SFI had suspended Thomas from the Alappuzha district committee after the complaints of forgery surfaced, Arsho gave him a clean chit on Monday by saying that SFI had checked his certificates and found that they were original.
The CPI(M) in Kerala is currently in an open confrontation with news outlets criticising them.
Soon after Arsho on Monday alleged hypocrisy by the Kerala media in the Nikhil Thomas case, social media platforms were quickly inundated by snippets of his statements and posts filled with verbal attacks against the media, courtesy of the CPI(M)’s cyber-warriors.
However, things took a different turn in the afternoon when the Kalinga University registrar and the Kerala University vice-chancellor raised serious doubts about the authenticity of the certificate submitted by the student leader.
By evening, the developments involving the universities had forced Arsho to backtrack on his position that the certificates are original. “We will re-examine the degree certificate of Thomas,” said Arsho.
“It was based on the eligibility certificate issued by the Kerala University that we said Thomas’s certificate is genuine. But a more detailed investigation will be done based on the information that has come out now. Some institutes outside Kerala take money, issue certificates, and provide attendance. Many mafias act as admission agents. We will investigate whether Thomas took the help of such mafias,” said Arsho.
“Thomas was removed from organisational duties when the matter came up,” he added. Arsho also claimed that the organisation did not give a clean chit to Thomas.
Absconding K Vidhya. (Supplied)
Though the SFI has taken some quick actions against the accused, this incident will reinforce allegations that the CPI(M) and its affiliates are exploiting their positions to promote favouritism and corruption across various levels in the southern state.
The controversy involving Thomas comes close on the heels of the police filing multiple cases against former SFI leader K Vidya for allegedly forging an experience certificate in the name of Maharaja’s College in Ernakulam.
She was accused to have done it to get an appointment as a guest lecturer in different government colleges.
She allegedly worked in various government colleges in the state by furnishing the fake certificate.
Anakha who was removed from post of UUC at Kattakkada college. Photo: Supplied
Meanwhile, an SFI leader of Christian College in Kattakkada is now facing criminal proceedings — for impersonation — along with the college principal as part of a failed bid to make him the chairman of the university union.
The college principal was forced to send a letter to the university naming the leader, who had not contested the college election, as the university union councillor chosen democratically by the students.
In the process, they committed impersonation by dropping the name of a woman SFI leader who contested and won the university union councillor post.
Across Kerala, many other forgery cases are pending against SFI leaders.
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