EWS quota: Seven booked for giving ‘false’ income papers

Vishal Joshi

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Tribune News Service

Kurukshetra, May 23

The police have booked seven persons for allegedly submitting false income certificates to secure admission for their wards under the EWS quota in a leading private school here.

Prateek Kumar, SHO, City police station, said the accused have been booked under Sections 420 (cheating), 181 (false statement on oath) and 200 (using as true such declaration knowing it to be false) of the IPC.

Kumar said the case was registered on Tuesday on the basis of a detailed preliminary investigation and a legal opinion from the Assistant District Attorney (ADA) of the Police Department.

It was allegedly found that the parents secured admission illegally for the seats reserved for underprivileged children, said the SHO.

According to Rule 134-A, parents with the income of less than Rs2 lakh per annum are eligible to get their wards admitted to private schools.

“The school management provided documentary evidence to buttress its claim. The Income Tax returns of the parents did not match with the income certificates submitted with the admission forms. We will soon arrest the accused,” said the SHO.

Statements of the accused would be obtained to examine who others were involved in obtaining and attesting the false documents, he added.

On May 1, city-based Wisdom World School had lodged a complaint with the Chief Minister, Education Minister and district authorities, claiming that at least seven cases of fake income certificates were detected. In all cases, it was found annual family income of applicants was more than Rs2 lakh.

The fraud came to light after the school administration started scrutinising the details of the I-T returns reportedly submitted by parents at the time of admission.

The income certificates were approved by the municipal authorities and acknowledged by the Education Department.

Meanwhile, District Education Officer (DEO) Namita Kaushik said a district grievances redressal panel would soon meet to decide the fate of admissions of “ineligible” students. However, manager of Wisdom World School Vinod Rawal said three out of seven students, whose admissions had been objected, had quit the school.

“We want a fair probe in the case and the guilty should be punished,” he said.