K Vidya, a former Students Federation of India (SFI) leader and student of the Maharaja’s College in Ernakulam, an autonomous institution under the Kerala government, is facing a probe after she allegedly forged a certificate of experience claiming that she worked as a guest lecturer at the institution. The SFI is the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). Vidya has been charged with non-bailable offences by the police after Maharaja’s college principal VS Joy filed a complaint at the Ernakulam Central Police Station on Tuesday, June 6. Here is what happened.
Vidya allegedly submitted a fake experience certificate during a job interview for the position of guest lecturer at the Malayalam Department of the RGM Government College of Attappady in Palakkad district. The issue came to public notice on Wednesday, June 7, after authorities of the RGM college sent the certificate to the principal of Maharaja's college when they developed doubts about its authenticity. Vidya had earlier worked at the Karinthalam College in Kasaragod from June 2022 to March 2023 using the same certificate, according to reports.
The fake certificate controversy attracted media attention as it coincided with another controversy related to the SFI State Secretary PM Arsho, whose mark list showed that he had passed examinations at the Maharaja's college without appearing for them. Arsho, an MA Archeology student, had clarified that he did not write a single paper during the third-semester exams, for which he faced the allegation. Maharajas College authorities had stated it happened due to software error at the end of National Informatics Centre (NIC).
Vidya could not be reached when TNM tried to contact her. However, she earlier told The Fourth, a Malayalam news portal, that she has not submitted any forged certificate and that she does not possess any such certificate.
An officer with the Agali police station in Palakkad told TNM that the FIR (First Information Report) in the case has just been transferred to the station in Palakkad from Ernakulam. The case will be re-registered before the probe is started. As per the FIR, the charges registered are Sections 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), and 471 (using a document or electronic record knowing that it is forged) of the Indian Penal Code.