Odisha Govt Withdraws Extra Pensionary Benefits To Kendrapada MP’s Father For Forgery

Bhubaneswar: Amid his ongoing legal tussle with wife Varsha Priyadarshini, actor-turned-politician Anubhav Mohanty would not have expected this: The Odisha government has withdrawn extra pensionary benefits to his father Abhaya Kumar Mohanty for submitting a fake Refresher Course certificate on the basis of which he was promoted as Reader in 1997. The higher education department has cancelled his promotion.

“An enquiry was conducted by the Deputy Director who submitted his enquiry report on dated 29.08.2009 with a finding that the Refresher Course certificate of the petitioner for the period from 01.12.1993 to 28.12.1993, purportedly issued by Berhampur University was a fake and manufactured one,” said a notification issued by the Higher Education Department on Monday.

Participation in two Refresher Courses of at least four weeks duration each was an eligibility criterion for placement in Reader grade.

In 2010, Mohanty filed a petition in the Orissa High Court for payment of his arrear salary as Reader in English at Kandarpur College and all service and pensionary benefits in the revised scale of pay.

The department had stopped his promotional arrear in 2009 following allegations about the forged Refresher Course certificate.

Mohanty contended that there was no need for him to undergo any training to avail the benefits since UGC in 2008 exempted college teachers, superannuating within three years, from attending these for placement/ promotion under Career Advancement Scheme.

The court had ordered for verification of the allegation.

While rejecting his claim, the department pointed out the 13-year gap between his promotion to Reader grade in 1997 and his superannuation in 2010 and said the UGC circular was not applicable to him.

“The petitioner, being in a noble profession of that of a college teacher and bestowed with the onerous responsibility of shaping the future of young students, should not have resorted to such fraudulent means for self-gain; thus creating a bad example for
his students,” it added.

The notification has been signed by principal secretary, higher education, Saswat Mishra.

Notably, Varsha and Anubhav are tangled in a bitter legal battle. The couple locked horns in September 2020 when Varsha filed a case of domestic violence against Anubhav in the Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate’s (SDJM) court, accusing him of being a habitual drinker and having multiple affairs.

It was then revealed that Anubhav had already filed for a divorce from his wife in the Patiala House Court in New Delhi in July last year. The case has since been transferred to a family court in Cuttack.