‘Will file for defamation’: DUSU president, ABVP’s Tushar Dedha on fake certificate allegations

NEW DELHI: Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) president Tushar Dedha, on Saturday, said that he will file for defamation on the allegations of him using a fake affidavit to justify his two Class 12 certificates. Dedha said that while he does possess two Class 12 certificates from two different boards, he has judgments from the “Supreme Court and the High Court” validating the degrees.

On Friday, DUSU vice president Abhi Dahiya, who belongs to the National Students' Union of India (NSUI), a Congress-affiliate, filed a complaint with the Delhi University vice-chancellor alleging that Dedha has used “illegal means” to get admission in the university. Dahiya also claimed that Dedha submitted a “false affidavit” and committed “fraud” and thereby should be removed from the DUSU president post. Dedha is from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), an affiliate of the BJP.

Dedha has, meanwhile, called the allegations an “election mandate”.

“NSUI had lost the previous university elections. Now that the new elections are coming, they have just made up this issue that my degree is fake. We will file a defamation lawsuit on them. Because there is nothing in this. They just need an election mandate, when the election comes it will crop up, when the election goes it will go away,” said Dedha.

Have Supreme Court judgment: DUSU president

The DUSU president admitted that he has two Class 12 certificates, one from the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and one from the Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad Uttar Pradesh. However, he claims that he has judgments from both the “Supreme Court and High Court” validating his two certificates.

“I have a judgment from the Supreme Court and High Court [validating the Class 12 certificates]. Also, where is it written that one student cannot have two separate degrees. When I was in Class 10th I didn’t live in Delhi as much. So I got the degree from both states. They are saying that 75% attendance is mandatory but there was no such rule at that time. Even now, in Delhi schools, admit cards can be given with 0% attendance,” said Dedha.

As per the CBSE bylaws cited in a FAQ in 2016, at least 75% attendance in an academic session is required to be eligible for the classes 9, 10, 11 and 12 examinations.

“When I got admission to both boards I just gave the exams. At that time, I had no such perception that two degrees are a problem. My parents got me admission in Delhi, so I wrote the exam,” said Dedha.

In 2018, DUSU president from ABVP, Ankit Baisoya was removed from his post following controversy over his degree from Thiruvalluvar University.