Nikhil's degree certificate original, claims SFI leader Arsho

Thiruvananthapuram: The Students' Federation of India (SFI) has come out in the open, backing its embattled Alappuzha district committee member Nikhil Thomas who is facing charges of submitting a fake degree certificate to seek admission to M Com course.

“The degree certificate is original. There is no irregularity in his M Com admission application. He wrote the degree exam and qualified,” SFI state secretary P M Arsho said.

However, the SFI secretary pointed out there was no document proving Thomas had attended classes at Kalinga University and wondered how a university could issue the certificate without ensuring minimum attendance.

“If there is a varsity that doesn’t insist on attendance, then the same should be looked into. All the documents submitted by Nikhil Thomas are original. The media gave the news without examining his certificates,” said Arsho, who himself had landed in a controversy after the website of the Maharaja's College, Ernakulam showed he passed the third-semester Archeology exams without appearing for the same.

“No university in Kerala will promote a student to the next semester or allow them to complete the course without the minimum stipulated attendance or in violation of the provisions mandated by the UGC. Kalinga University is in Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh. It should be examined whether one can write the examinations there without the minimum attendance,” he lashed out.

Thomas had earlier showed his documents to the SFI leaders, including Arsho.

Arsho justified how Nikhil pursued two degrees at the same time. Another SFI leader had reportedly lodged a complaint in this regard.

“The UGC in 2013 had made it clear that a student can enroll for more than one degree simultaneously. However, one degree should be cancelled. This rule was changed in 2022. Nikhil Thomas had cancelled his registration for the course under the Kerala University,” he stated.

The scandal
Thomas studied B Com at the Milad-E-Sherif Memorial (MSM) College, Kayamkulam, during the 2018-20 period but didn’t clear the exams. In 2021, he enrolled for M Com in the same college with degree certificates issued by Kalinga University for the period 2019-21. Thomas, who won the 2018 college election as the University Union Councillor, later became the Joint Secretary of the University Students' Union.

The SFI secretary further claimed Thomas was a student of the college when the 2018 election was held.

“He had won as the University Union Councillor and hence his name featured on the Nominal Roll. Technically, no bar is there for those featured in the list contesting the University Union election. In the case of Mahatama Gandhi University, which holds the election the last, those who have their names in the Nominal Roll could vote only after completing the course and entering a job. The UUCs who are elected by students on the campus are eligible to contest the University Union elections. A student who wins from the campus in such a fashion and features in the Nominal Roll can technical and legally contest Union elections,” Arsho argued.

The SFI had ousted Thomas from the organisation's district committee after one of its members complained that the certificate he had submitted was fake. The Muslim Students' Federation (MSF) unit in the college had complained to the principal against Thomas.