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A journalist from Asianet News TV and four others, including the principal of the government-run Maharaja College in Ernakulam, were booked on a complaint by student union leader CPI(M) Arsho PM, who was deemed a ‘failure’ by the college after the start. The results showed that he “passed” the third-semester exam for the graduate program in Archeology and Material Studies.
Archow admitted that he did not write the papers.
Earlier this week, as the incident escalated into controversy, the college claimed that Arsho appeared on the list of passed candidates due to a technical fault.
In the FIR, recorded Friday, Arsho alleged that the accuser conspired to tarnish his image and that of SFI, the student wing of CPI(M). The FIR claimed to have distributed a fake tag list.
Arsho lodged a complaint with the Kochi City Police after the opposition Congress and its student organisation, the Kerala Students’ Union, raised an uproar over the marklist scandal. The student leader claimed that although he did not appear for the exam, the college authorities falsified a result showing that he had passed the exam.
Following the complaint, police on Friday registered a case against College Examination Coordinator Vinod Kumar, Principal VS Joy, KSU State President Aleutheus Xavier, Maharaja College student CA Fazil, and Asianet reporter Akila Nandakumar.
The FIR was based on IPC sections 120B (conspiracy), 465 (falsification), 469 (falsification to damage reputation), 500 (defamation) and section 120(o) (causing nuisance and breach of public order) of the Kerala Police Act.
The FIR said the college principal and exam coordinator had prepared the result which erroneously showed Arsho clearing the papers. Others, including the journalist, were alleged to have spread this “fake news” on social media, thus tarnishing the reputation of the complainant, Archo, and his organization.
Asianet did not react.
Condemning this development, the Kerala Journalists’ Union said, “A case has been registered against the journalist for reporting the news. It is anti-democratic and a violation of media freedom. The case was registered to report allegations raised by the KSU leader on Live TV.”
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