Vaibhav Patil requested the officials to keep his degree in their custody even as no formal action can be taken with respect to revoking it
More than four months after the Bombay High Court rejected 26-year-old Vaibhav Patil's plea to surrender his degree, which according to him was received through fraudulent means, Patil has now submitted his degree tothe University.
He says he 'cannot live with the guilt all his life' and plans to move court yet again in May. For the last three years, Patil has been pleading to surrender his degree. However, in the absence of any such provision in the Maharashtra State Universities Act, and after the Bombay High court rejected his petition in October 2016, the university could not accept his plea.
Patil requested the officials to keep his degree in their custody even as no formal action can be taken with respect to revoking it.
"I tried approaching the officials at the University and also moved court, but was disappointed to know that there is no way to revoke my degree at my own request due to lack of such a provision.
"However, I did not want to live with the trauma all my life and thus requested the University officials to keep my degree with them," Patil said.
MA Khan, Registrar, University of Mumbai said, "After he made several requests, we have kept his degree in our custody and have given him an acknowledgment of the same. We haven't taken any decision yet on what to do with these documents. The academic council will take a further call on it."
It all started in 2011, when Patil received his Bachelors in Engineering (BE) degree with a specialisation in IT from the University of Mumbai, and was awarded a second class. However, he approached the University a few months later and confessed that he had acquired the degree through unfair means. He had failed in Maths II paper in his first year of engineering and was advised by his friends to "contact an agent" who could help him pass his exams. According to Patil, he had paid Rs 20,000 to the agent for the same.
Unfortunately, despite this confession, his degree couldn't be revoked due to lack of evidence. In 2014, Patil decided to move court. And, in October 2016, a division bench of Justice Shantanu Kemkar and MS Karnik, rejected his petition. Patil now plans to move the court once more in May.
"I have wasted some precious years of my academic life. While I will move court yet again, I am also exploring what can be done to get back on track in terms of academics," he said.
MA Khan said that the University would support him if he wishes to pursue his studies.
"He can enrol himself in any other undergraduate course and the University will provide him all the support and help he needs," Khan said.
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