Rohtak varsity assistant professor booked for fraud on court's order

The police have registered a case of fraud against Dr Pardeep Gahlot, Assistant Professor, University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET), Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak.

An FIR has been registered against Gahlot under Sections 420, 467, 468 and 471 of the IPC at the PGIMS police station on the basis of a complaint lodged by Dr Ashwani Dhingra, another faculty member at the UIET.

In the complaint lodged with the local Superintendent of Police on February 20, 2024, Dhingra had alleged that Gahlot submitted a forged certificate of Class XII for being selected as a lecturer/assistant professor at the institute.

However, the police registered the FIR on May 28, 2025, more than 15 months after the complaint was lodged, and that too after the complainant moved a local court in this regard.

On May 1, the Court of Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Ravleen Kaur ordered the police to register a case and file a compliance report in this regard.

A complaint regarding the matter was also lodged by Dr Sandeep Kumar Gupta with the State Vigilance Bureau in February, 2022.

Following that, the Director, Higher Education, Haryana, asked the university/institute authorities to investigate the matter and send an action taken report.

In a letter to the Director (Higher Education) dated January 16, 2024, the MDU administration had maintained that the allegation was baseless; hence, no action was required.

In the letter, the MDU administration had stated that the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) had verified Gahlot's senior secondary certificate vide its letter dated December 9, 2011.