FIVE YEARS AFTER Abhay Kumar Gohil, a former judge at the Madhya Pradesh High Court, recommended action in a case of serious examination fraud at the National Law Institute University of Bhopal, at least five former students identified in his inquiry report continue to serve as judges in the state’s trial courts. In 2018, Gohil conducted a lengthy inquiry into examination malpractice at NLIU Bhopal—one of India’s top public law colleges. He uncovered a racket involving the university staff, who were alleged to have manipulated exam results in exchange for money. Gohil found 176 cases of students who had been passed or had been awarded five-year bachelor’s degrees in a fraudulent manner, between 1998 and 2011.
Among these cases were Shivraj Singh Gawali, Vidhan Maheshwari, Pooja Singh Mourya, Purnima Saiyam and Tathagat Yagnik—all of whom now serve as judges in Madhya Pradesh. Maheshwari was appointed a junior judge in 2011 and is currently serving as a district and sessions judge in Shivpuri district. The other four are serving as senior-division civil judges in various districts of Madhya Pradesh. Gawali was appointed in 2012, while Mourya, Saiyam and Yagnik were appointed in 2017.
The examination fraud uncovered by Gohil made national headlines, but little or no action appears to have been taken on the report’s findings. In October 2021, Devendra Mishra, a lawyer and activist, filed a complaint before Ravi Vijaykumar Malimath, the chief justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court at the time, as well as Giribala Singh, the principal district and sessions judge of Bhopal, who had served as the NLIU registrar until 2020. Mishra noted that Maheshwari and Gawali’s names appeared in Gohil’s report among the list of students who had failed in certain papers but were shown to have passed. Thus, these judges could not have had the required qualifications to join the judicial service, he wrote. Mishra requested the high court to examine whether these judges had produced original marksheets and degree certificates at the time of joining the judicial service.
In April 2022, the high court’s principal registrar responded to Mishra’s complaint, stating that it was under consideration. Nearly two years later, in February 2024, the registrar informed Mishra that his complaint had been closed following an inquiry into the matter by the chief justice, but did not share anything further on the findings or action taken. In the months since then, through right-to-information applications, Mishra obtained records confirming that other serving judges were also named in Gohil’s report. He acquired a copy of the service records for Maheshwari, Mourya, Saiyam and Yagnik. The Caravan has a copy of Gohil’s report, Mishra’s letters seeking action and the service records.