The Himachal Pradesh Vigilance Department has registered an FIR against three people accused of securing jobs with the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEB) using academic and technical certificates that the issuing institutions say are not genuine. The case was reported by Amar Ujala and The News Himachal on 6 November.

The FIR was registered at the Vigilance police station in Chamba on charges including cheating and forgery, after verification found that none of the certificates had been issued in the names of the accused.

The three cases

According to the reports, Anil Kumar was appointed a Junior Engineer in the Holi subdivision in 2022 on the basis of an electrical engineering diploma attributed to Karnataka State Open University. The university said it had not issued the diploma to him. He has been dismissed from service.

Divesh Kumar, from Dehra village in Chamba, was appointed a Junior T-Mate in the Chamba division in 2021. He submitted a Class 10 certificate attributed to the Rajasthan State Open School, Jaipur, which denied issuing it. His resignation was accepted.

Vishal Kumar Chauhan, from Balu, was appointed a Junior T-Mate in the Dalhousie division in 2019 using a Class 10 certificate attributed to the National Institute of Open Schooling, Noida, which was found not to be authentic. He has been dismissed.

All three are accused, and the allegations have not been tested in court.

Questions for the department

The reports say Vigilance is also examining whether some Board officials knew the certificates were doubtful but did not refer the matter for criminal action. In two of the cases, the employees worked for several years before the documents were found to be false.

Checking open-schooling and distance credentials

Certificates from open schools and distance-learning universities are genuine routes to qualification. However, because many people study remotely, these certificates are also frequently imitated. Recruiting bodies can send each certificate to the issuing board or university for written confirmation before appointment, check roll numbers against the board's results records where available, and confirm whether a technical diploma could lawfully be awarded in distance mode in the year shown.

Sources

This News Desk report summarises information published by the sources above, written in our own words. Persons named in criminal matters are accused, not convicted, unless a court has ruled otherwise. To report an error, use our contact page.

Himachal PradeshHPSEBGovernment recruitmentOpen schoolingVigilance

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