The Kerala High Court in the case Ansil v. State of Kerala observed and has granted interim anticipatory bail to Kerala Students Union, KSU State Convenor Ansil Jaleel, wherein it is allege dby him alleging for forgery of degree certificate.
The Single bench headed by Justice Ziyad Rahman A.A in the case observed and has directed Jaleel to appear before the Investigation Officer within a week.
It has been stated by the said court that Jaleel shall be released on bail on execution of a bond for the amount of Rs. 50,000/-, in the event of his arrest.
However, the said case surfaced when a Malayalam newspaper published an article wherein alleging Jaleel to have forged a degree certificate from Kerala University to secure employment at Muthoot Finance, a private financial institution.
Therefore, the said news report gained the significant traction and was extensively discussed on various media platforms. Thus, Jaleel appeared before various news medias and has denied the allegations.
Further, the legal notice was also being issued by him to the newspaper, demanding compensation and a public apology for allegedly publishing baseless and false information. He also lodged a complaint with the District Police Chief, Alappuzha, urging an investigation into the conspiracy behind the forgery of
the false certificate.
The complaint was filed by the member of the Kerala University Senate with the Vice Chancellor of Kerala University, wherein seeking an investigation into the authenticity of the certificate. It has also bene stated that the Vice Chancellor, without conducting a preliminary enquiry, forwarded the complaint to the Director General of Police. Thus, Jaleel was being booked in the case for non-bailable offences under Sections 465 (Punishment for forgery), 466 (Forgery of record of Court or of public register, etc.), 468 (Forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (Using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), and 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of Indian Penal Code, 1860.
It has also been stated by Jaleel before the court that a careful perusal of the purported certificate would indicate that the document claimed to be a B.Com Degree Certificate, while Jaleel, who was from the Humanities background, had enrolled in BA Hindi Literature at SD College Alapuzha in 2014 before discontinuing the same following personal issues. Thus, it has also been claimed by him that the said discrepancy suggested that the forged certificate was created by someone lacking knowledge of his basic background details.
Further, he also alleged that the forgery was orchestrated merely to divert media attention and malign his reputation.
Accordingly, the court stated that the interim order which is issued by it would come in force within the period of two weeks.
The counsels, Advocates Susanth Shaji, Albin A. Joseph, and Sidharth O. appeared on behalf of the petitioner.
