Disclaimer: This has been reported after the availability of the order of the Court and not on media reports so as to give an accurate report to our readers.
Allahabad High Court: In a petition filed by an accused in a Rs 22 lakhs cash-for-job and fake PhD degree scam seeking quashing of the FIR, the Division Bench of J.J. Munir and Tarun Saxena, JJ., dismissed the petition, holding that the case was not fit for interference under Article 226 of the Constitution since the allegations were of a serious nature and needed thorough investigation.
Background
The complainant came to know the accused as he would often visit her house along with his mother or friend. The accused and his friend allegedly often boasted about their connections in the Government, Administration, and Kanpur University, claiming they had done important favours for others, including securing employment. The complainant was told by the accused, his sister, and his friend that they would ensure her admission to the PhD degree and secure a job for her.
For this purpose, she was allegedly asked to arrange Rs 22 lakhs with the assurance that all the accused persons had good relations with Registrars and higher officers of many Universities and they would arrange a job for the complainant somewhere.
In this manner, they allegedly defrauded the informant into paying Rs 48,000 to the main accused, who said that he would get the informant admitted to the PhD programme of the Mangalayatan University, Aligarh, in 2024, so she could study and work simultaneously. The accused persons also got the informant to sign some documents.
After some time, they informed her that they would get her the job of an Assistant Professor with the Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur (CSJM University), for which they needed Rs 18,50,000. Accordingly, the informant paid Rs 18,50,000 to the main accused and an additional Rs 20,000 to the account of the present accused.
Thereafter, she received an appointment letter by post from the CSJM University, asking her to join. On the same day, the main accused sent her a WhatsApp message, showing a copy of her PhD degree granted by the Mangalayatan University, Aligarh. When the informant enquired about the PhD degree and the joining letter saying that she had never applied, then how a letter of appointment came to be issued. Additionally, she questioned how she could be granted a PhD degree in three months of admission.
The accused persons allegedly visited the informant and handed her documents, such as her PhD mark sheet, admission letter, appointment letter, topic approval letter, and demanded an additional sum of Rs 3 lakhs to be paid to Mangalayatan University; otherwise, all the money that she paid in the past would be lost, and her future would be ruined. Scared, the informant transferred the required balance sum of money to the bank account of the main accused’s mother. She also never went to Mangalayatan University as she was scared.
On 11 July 2024, when she took her appointment letter to the CSJM University and met the Registrar, he informed her that all the documents were bogus and the signatures forged.
Aggrieved, she filed an FIR under Sections 406, 420, 467, 468, 471, 506, Penal Code, 1860, against the accused persons, claiming that they cheated her of Rs 22.18 lakhs. She also claimed that they gave her threats of life and false implication in heinous offences.
Hence, the petitioners filed the present petition seeking to quash the FIR.
Analysis
Upon perusal of the FIR, the Court remarked that the allegations were very serious in nature and disclosed a very chilling trend in society, where the common man has developed a perception that anything can be done by the payment of a bribe. It is for this reason that the informant, an educated woman herself, was taken in by the fraud, allegedly played by the accused persons, into parting with a substantial sum of Rs 22 lakhs and more.
The Court further stated that admission to a PhD course or appointment to a University cannot be done except through the procedure prescribed under the rules of these Universities. The PhD is earned from a University after following the PhD programme and completing it, whereas appointment to a teaching post in a University is granted after undergoing the recruitment process, involving advertisement of posts and applying for them.
“The faith of the common man in the efficacy of corrupt ways has led the first informant to be duped by the accused. It shows a very low state of moral fibre in society, and crimes of this kind, to regain and restore some morality in society, must not go unpunished.”
The Court stated that though it could not say that the allegations were true at this stage of the proceedings, due to their nature, they were required to be thoroughly and honestly investigated by the police.
Accordingly, the Court dismissed the petition, holding that the case was not fit for interference under Article 226 of the Constitution.
[Priyanka Sengar v. State of U.P., 2026 SCC OnLine All 2168, decided on 31-3-2026]
Advocates who appeared in this case:
For the petitioner: Ankit Raj, Rinki Gupta
For the respondent: Additional Government Advocate-I Ghanshyam Kumar
