Former Kannur University physics head convicted for forgery and illegal salary

A Vigilance Court has convicted N.K. Deepak, who headed the Physics department at Kannur University's Swami Ananda Theertha (SAT) campus in Payyannur, for using forged documents to make an unauthorised appointment and illegally draw salary in 2008.

The Thalassery Vigilance Court sentenced Deepak, a native of Chirakkal, to six years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹80,000. Vigilance Judge K. Ramakrishnan delivered the verdict, finding the accused guilty under various provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code. The court granted him bail after pronouncing the sentence.

The fraudulent appointment

According to the prosecution case, Deepak had sought permission from the University Vice-Chancellor to appoint a person on a daily wage basis against a vacant professional assistant post while serving as head of the Physics department in 2008. He submitted the request on June 26, 2008.

The investigation uncovered that after receiving permission, a forged document was prepared in the name of an employee who was then working temporarily in a similar post in the Chemistry department. This falsified document purportedly established the educational qualification required for the professional assistant post. A false address was also allegedly incorporated in the document.

Salary fraud and misrepresentation

The prosecution alleged that this forged document was subsequently used to mislead university authorities into believing that the person had been appointed as a Professional Assistant in the Physics department. The accused was also found guilty of drawing the salary for August and September 2008 by allegedly forging the signature of D. Vinod Kumar.

The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB), Kannur unit, had registered the case and completed the investigation before filing the chargesheet before the Vigilance Court. The investigation was conducted by former Kannur Vigilance DySP V. Madhusoodanan and DySP Babu Peringeth. Mr. Peringeth filed the chargesheet before the court, and Public Prosecutor Anoop K.B. appeared for the prosecution.

Source: The Hindu