North Goa Collector Mrs. R.Maneka has by a letter dated 21st July informed the Goa Governor that an F.I.R has not yet been filed against Raymond Filipe Fernandes, son of Goa’s Deputy Speaker Isidore Fernandes in connection with the fake BA degree submitted by him while applying for the post of Awal Karkun at the North Goa Collectorate. The Collector has informed the Governor that the selection of Raymond Fernandes for the post of Awal Karkun has now been rejected on account of his fake degree.
The Goa Raj Bhavan on 26th June had written to the North Goa Collector seeking action on the complaint filed by Adv. Aires Rodrigues demanding an F.I.R against Raymond Fernandes. Adv. Rodrigues had on 23rd June met Governor Satya Pal Malik at the Raj Bhavan and submitted a memorandum seeking his intervention to ensure the criminal prosecution of Raymond Fernandes in that fake degree case.
The North Goa Collector has in her letter informed the Goa Governor that based on a complaint filed by Adv. Rodrigues that Raymond Fernandes’s BA degree was bogus, the matter was refeered to the Goa University who by a letter dated 9th March had confirmed that the degree submitted by Raymond Ferandes was from a fake University.
Raymond Fernandes was amongst the 16 selected in January this year for the post of Awal Karkun. Following Adv. Aires Rodrigues’s complaint to the Chief Secretary in February this year seeking a thorough probe into the selection for the post of Awal Karkun, the North Goa Collector had asked the Registrar of Goa University to verify whether the degree submitted by Raymond Fernandes was genuine.
The Registrar of the Goa University in his reply informed the North Goa Collector that the BA degree from the Lucknow based Bhartiya Shiksha Parishad submitted by Raymond Fernandes was from a fake University.
The Registrar of the Goa University also drew the attention of the Collector that the University Grants Commission by a notification dated 30th June 2016 had notified the list of fake universities which included the Lucknow based Bhartiya Shiksha Parishad. The Registrar also sent the Collector a copy of the judgment of the Madras High Court delivered on 22nd September 2017 and that of the Calcutta High Court pronounced on June 19th 2018 holding that the Bhartiya Shiksha Parishad was a fake University.
After receiving the communication from the Goa University, the North Goa Collector on 14th May served a show cause notice on Raymond Fernandes as to why his candidature should not be cancelled for having submitted a BA degree from a fake University. As the reply submitted by Raymond Fernandes was not satisfactory the North Goa Collector by an order issued on 16th June rejected his candidature.
A Division Bench of the Bombay High Court at Goa comprising of Justice M.S.Sonak and Justice M.S.Jawalkar on 26th June declined to grant any interim relief whatsoever to Raymond Fernandes while observing in its order that the BA degree submitted by him was from a University not recognized by the University Grants Commission.
Meanwhile, Adv. Aires Rodrigues has today accused Deputy Speaker Isidore Fernandes of pressurizing Revenue Minister Jennifer Monserrate to save his son from criminal prosecution in the fake degree case.
Adv. Rodrigues has expressed confidence that Governor Pal Malik will ensure that the Rule of law prevails.
