Jitender Tomar replies to CM Arvind Kejriwal over fake degree row

NEW DELHI: Delhi law minister Jitender Tomar on Thursday submitted his response to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal after being asked for an explanation on allegations that his graduation and law degrees are fakes.

Tomar, who has presented the CM copies of his marksheets and provision degree certificate, has alleged that this is a conspiracy against him by his political opponent Nand Kishore Garg of BJP. "When it became clear that Garg was likely to lose the Tri Nagar seat, he started resorting to dirty tricks to malign my name.

When his petition in high court didn't help, he started raising questions regarding the authenticity of my graduation and law degrees. I am informed that Garg is being supported in his propaganda by other senior BJP members," Tomar said.

Tomar's basic contention is that the roll numbers cited in the RTI application were incorrect, rendering the entire process after that problematic. "The petition has been filed on the basis of a reply received by one Pardeep from Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Avadh University of Faizabad, which appears to indicate that my graduation degree under roll number 31331 is fake.

It's interesting to note that the reply, based on an almost 30-year-old record, was furnished by the university within a day," Tomar said, hinting at suspicion in the urgency with which the university responded.

The minister has also attached a copy of the application filed by Garg's counsel Deepak Vohra with KS Saket PG College in Ayodhya and the copy of the reply given by the principal. "The principal's reply clarifies that roll number 31331 is incorrect and gives the correct one.

On reports of the Bar Council of India's notice over his license to practice as an advocate, Tomar said that he filed an application on February 16 for suspension of his licence upon his nomination as law minister.