JEE (Main) 2022 Exam: Orissa HC Orders CBI Probe Into ‘Erroneous’ Marksheet Of Candidate

Cuttack: The Orissa High Court on Thursday ordered a CBI probe into erroneous marksheet claim of a candidate, who appeared for JEE (Main) 2022 Exam.

While hearing a petition filed by one Anshuman Kanungo of Marshaghai area in Kendrapada, the division bench of Justices BR Sarangi and MS Raman directed the central probing agency to ascertain the genuineness of claims made by a candidate regarding marks scored by him in contrast to National Testing Agency (NTA) records within four months and submit a report.

The bench observed that the matter requires investigation by an independent and impartial agency since the documents which have been annexed to the writ petition have been seriously disputed and not accepted by NTA. “If the documents which are said to have been downloaded from the website of ministry of education are genuine, then he should get admission into his choicest institution of the country, like IIT or NIT. But, if the documents are found to be not genuine, then it is to be found out how the same has been obtained by the petitioner, so that such mistake cannot be done by the authorities concerned in future.”

“On receipt of the inquiry report from CBI, the registry is directed to place the same for consideration,” the bench added and directed the registry to forthwith communicate a copy of the judgment, along with a copy of the brief, to the director of CBI, New Delhi, for immediate compliance.

The petitioner claimed that he had scored 98.88 but later found some some discrepancies in the marksheet later and sent a mail to the authorities concerned for correction. However, the score was subsequently changed to 33 and serial number in the common rank list from 6,28,193 to 11,193. He was also denied admission in any engineering college, including NIT-Rourkela, on the plea that the marksheet submitted by him was fake.

Anshuman’s lawyer, Akaya Kumar Panda, told the media that they argued that the marksheet was downloaded from the website of Ministry of Education and it was later allegedly changed to accommodate another student from Uttar Pradesh.

The NTA disputed the claim of the petitioner in the court.