A rich father's attempts to enrol his son to an elite school in Delhi has landed him in trouble with a criminal case against him for allegedly creating false identity proofs of a 'poor family' to avail the economically weaker section (EWS) quota.
The Delhi High Court, on October 20, granted anticipatory bail to the man in the case of alleged cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy. The case came to light after an FIR was filed on behalf of the private school, alleging that the man had illegally changed his son's name and also changed his name as well as their residential address, in order to show himself to be from a poor family. He managed to get the child admitted as a Nursery student under the EWS quota in 2019. Apart from that, the child was also admitted to another elite private school in the city.
The police, in its status report, said that on various occasions, the child had objected to being addressed by the name given to the school and insisted that everyone call him by his real name. The police also stated that he had mentioned his parents' real names to many in the school. During the investigation, it was revealed that a person was appointed to regularly pick up the child from the school on a bike and take him to a spot where the family's car would be parked and then, he would be driven to his residence in a posh area in Delhi.
The police argued that due to the forged admission, an actual EWS category student was deprived of getting admission to the elite school here, which is a choice of institution for several bureaucrats. Justice Anu Malhotra said that whether or not there has been any offence punishable under Sections 419 (cheating by impersonation), 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using forged document as genuine) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, by the father, is wholly a matter of trial.
The court also said that there was nothing to indicate that the man would flee from justice in a capacity to influence the prosecution's witnesses. It said that in the event of an arrest, the man shall be released on bail on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh and directed him not to leave the country and appear before the trial court as and when required. The high court also directed the man to always keep his mobile phone on and drop a pin on Google Maps to ensure that his location is available to the investigating officer.
