An alleged false affidavit submitted at the time of nomination citing wrong year of obtaining law degree from Utkal University has put BJD MLA from Badasahi assembly constituency in Mayurbhanj district in a fix.
As per the affidavit submitted on April 4, 2009, MLA Manoranjan Sethi has obtained LLB degree just one year after he cleared his graduation. The passing year has led to confusion among the intelligentsia and the opposition leaders as it is impossible to clear a three-year course in just one year.
In the affidavit it is mentioned that Sethi has cleared his HSC exam in 1984 and BA in 1993 followed by LLB in 1994. While he has passed HSC from Brahmapura High School and LLB from Mayurbhanj Law College, in the place of the institution of graduation it has been written - non collegiate.
Sources said the college which offers three-year LLB course requires graduation as the minimum academic qualification. But it has surprised many as to how did Sethi obtain the LLB certificate in just one year after admission and why was not his nomination rejected for providing wrong information in an affidavit which is considered as a legally valid document.
Not only this, name of the MLA also has been wrongly mentioned in his nomination papers. While in initial pages it is written as Monaranjan Sethi, in other pages it is mentioned as Monaranjan Sethy and somewhere it is Manoranjan Sethi.
A lawyer Parshuram Pradhan said this amounts to rejection of his nomination and initiation of criminal proceedings against the person who has submitted the affidavit. The election commission also can register a case against the person concerned for giving false affidavit if the matter is brought to his notice, he maintained.
The MLA however refuted the allegations. He said he had cleared his graduation from Betnoti College in 1989 and LLB from Mayurbhanj Law College in 1994. "Actually, the candidate does not fill up the forms at the time of nomination. The work is usually done by an advocate. I exactly do not remember what had been written in the affidavit. But I have documentary proof of my educational certificates," Sethi clarified.
Meanwhile, the Congress leaders have demanded action against the MLA and the official concerned who knowingly or unknowingly favoured him instead of rejecting the nomination papers.