Ridden with guilt over cheating, Mumbai University student wants his degree revoked

A Mumbai University student, Vaibhav Patil has approached the Bombay High Court to revoke is Bachelor in Engineering (BE) degree as he claims to have cleared first-year paper by paying Rs 20,000 to an agent.

The 26-year-old secured his BE degree with IT specialisation in 2011 but has been guilt-ridden due to which has not taken up any job. Instead he has spent three years chasing university officials to have the degree certificate junked and has approached the court as a last resort. While he was advised psychiatric help or approach an in-house counsellor, Vaibhav spoke to Mumbai Mirror in an interview stating that he had committed a wrong that had to be set right.

Vaibhav had failed Maths - II paper in the first year and was advised by his friends to contact an 'agent' in order to clear it. Recalling the incident, Vaibhav shared that he was in a state of shock after flunking the paper which is the reason he paid Rs 20,000 to an agent and cleared the subject. Although he cleared all subjects in the following years fair and clear, the guilt of cheating stayed on for Vaibhav. Hence he approached the court and filed the petition in 2014. While its next hearing is on September 20, for his degree to be revoked, Vaibhav will have to produce proof that he did cheat which he is not ready to do so as by revealing the agent's identity, other students might end up in trouble.

Looks like Vaibhav is in for a long struggle but he is undeterred as he "wants to send out the message that nothing is worth achieving when you get it through wrong means."