Prayagraj, April 7 The Allahabad High Court has refused to quash an FIR against a woman accused of defrauding a PhD aspirant of over Rs 22 lakh by promising a PhD degree and a position as an assistant professor.
Dismissing a writ petition filed by Priyanka Sengar, a division bench comprising Justices J J Munir and Tarun Saxena observed that even an educated woman fell victim to the fraud due to her belief in the effectiveness of corrupt practices.
"This shows a very low moral standard in society, and crimes of this kind should not go unpunished," the court said.
According to the case details, Tanya Dixit filed an FIR in Kanpur alleging that, along with co-accused Vikram Singh Sengar, Tripti Singh Sengar, and Sanya Singh Sengar, assured her admission to a PhD program at a university in Aligarh. They also promised to secure her a position as an assistant professor at a university in Kanpur.
Relying on these assurances, Dixit and her mother transferred a total of Rs 22.18 lakh to the accounts of the accused. However, Dixit never applied for either the academic program or the job.
According to the allegations, in June 2024, the accused handed over a bundle of forged documents to Dixit, including a PhD mark sheet, an admission letter, a topic approval letter, and an appointment letter from the Kanpur-based university, asking her to join in July.
When Dixit visited the university with the joining letter, the registrar informed her that all the documents were fake and the signatures were forged.
The FIR further alleged that when Dixit threatened legal action, the accused issued death threats and warned her of false implication in heinous offences.
The FIR was registered on September 14, 2024, under Section 420 (cheating) and other provisions of the IPC at the Swaroop Nagar police station in Kanpur.
In its March 31 order, the high court noted a "chilling trend" in society where people believe that anything can be achieved through bribery.
The court emphasised that admission to a PhD program or appointment to a university teaching post can only be made through prescribed procedures.
"A PhD is earned from a university after following the prescribed program and successfully completing it, while appointment to a teaching post is made through a recruitment process involving advertisement and due selection," it said.
Clarifying that it was not expressing any opinion on the truthfulness of the allegations, the court held that the nature of the accusations warranted a thorough and fair investigation by the police.