Mumbai: Twenty-six HSC students from K J Somaiya College of Arts and Commerce, who allegedly submitted fake documents to secure admissions in first-year junior college (FYJC), will now appear for their board exams as private candidates. While the college authorities have declined to comment on the reasons, they said the students and their parents have decided to withdraw their admissions. The students had taken admission in 2023-24 and studied at the college for more than a year and half. Meanwhile, education department sources said admission documents, even from the 2023-24 batch, were scrutinised after an admission racket was unearthed during this year’s admission process at three colleges under the Somaiya Group.
A board official said around 25 students from the college approached them to seek consultation to appear as private candidates in this year’s HSC board exams. These students were admitted to first-year junior college at K J Somaiya College of Arts and Commerce in 2023-24, but their admissions are ineligible now. “Since these students are not debarred from appearing for board exams, the board has allowed them to appear as private candidates. We wanted to ensure they do not suffer any academic loss,” said the board official. State board allows students who have cleared Class 10 to appear as private candidates after a gap of 1 year.
Kishan Pawar, college principal, said for the 2024-25 academic year, 26 students from Class 12 have withdrawn their applications. “These decisions were made by the students and their families. All 26 students, after withdrawing their admissions, opted for the private candidate application process. The college has adhered to all the required processes in this regard,” said the principal. The college, though, declined to comment on the reason.
An FYJC admission racket involving staff from the colleges was reported to the police in Nov last year, after a routine scrutiny of the admission documents revealed discrepancies. Admissions of at least 50 candidates from three colleges under the group were cancelled from the 2024-25 batch. The racketeers not only submitted fake marksheets from CBSE and ICSE boards, but for some, they even produced fake school leaving certificates, in lieu of money.
Since college staff were involved in the racket, the college administration decided to scrutinise documents of students admitted even in the previous academic year— 2023-24. Sources said this time around, documents of 26 students were found to be fake and were brought to the notice of the authorities. While the students withdrew their admissions, they approached the board for consultation and could appear as private candidates.