The arrest of former Bangalore University Syndicate member Dr K B Vedamurthy on Monday has exposed the rot within the system.
Even before Monday’s arrest, the university had initiated measures to identify fake documents and act against those involved in the fraud.
“We have received many complaints. We have conducted a preliminary inquiry and will place the report before the Syndicate on April 26,” Prof B Thimme Gowda, vice-chancellor, Bangalore University, told Express.
“The Syndicate will decide about another inquiry. The university will initiate stringent action against the guilty, whatever positions they may hold,” he said.
According to officials, some cases are 25 years old. Registrar (Evaluation) Prof Ninge Gowda said, “We will not allow anybody to misuse the university’s name and get away.”
He said many fake marks card cases were under investigation. “We don’t need the answer scripts. We have several other supporting documents to uncover the scam,” he said.
The university maintains marks lists, ledger books, eligibility lists, and convocation sheets.
“We maintain documents for 25 years. Using them, we can find out which marks cards and degree certificates are fake,” Gowda said.
In some cases, candidates have applied for convocation certificates two or three times. “Till today, people who have passed out 25 years ago apply for provisional degree certificates. We need to understand the agenda of such candidates,” he said.
Because of such scandals, degree certificates issued by Bangalore University were not well received in the job market for some years. That was one of the reasons former vice-chancellor Dr N Prabhu Dev had suggested introducing holograms on degree certificates.