The Kerala High Court has recently granted interim anticipatory bail to Ansil Jaleel, the Kerala Students Union (KSU) State Convenor, in a forgery case concerning a degree certificate.
A single bench of Justice Ziyad Rahman A.A., directed Jaleel to appear before the Investigation Officer within a week.
The bench ruled that Jaleel would be released on bail upon the execution of a bond worth Rs. 50,000/- if he is arrested. The case came to light when a Malayalam newspaper published an article alleging that Jaleel had forged a degree certificate from Kerala University in order to secure employment at Muthoot Finance, a private financial institution.
The news report gained significant attention and sparked extensive discussions on various media platforms.
In response, Jaleel publicly denied the allegations during appearances on various news outlets. Additionally, he issued a legal notice to the newspaper, demanding compensation and a public apology for allegedly disseminating baseless and false information. Furthermore, Jaleel filed a complaint with the District Police Chief of Alappuzha, urging an investigation into the conspiracy behind the forgery of the fabricated certificate.
Amidst these developments, a member of the Kerala University Senate lodged a complaint with the Vice Chancellor of Kerala University, requesting an investigation into the authenticity of the certificate. It is alleged that the Vice Chancellor, without conducting a preliminary inquiry, forwarded the complaint to the Director General of Police. Consequently, Jaleel was booked for non-bailable offenses under Sections 465, 466, 468, 471, and 420 of the IPC (Indian Penal Code), pertaining to forgery, using forged documents, and cheating. Jaleel argued that a careful examination of the alleged certificate would reveal that it claimed to be a B.Com Degree Certificate, whereas he, with a humanities background, had enrolled in BA Hindi Literature at SD College Alapuzha in 2014 before discontinuing due to personal reasons. He asserted that this discrepancy suggested that the forged certificate was created by someone lacking knowledge of his basic background details.
He further contended that the forgery was orchestrated solely to divert media attention and tarnish his reputation. The bench also stated that the interim order it issued would remain in effect for a duration of two weeks.
