MUMBAI: Former India junior goalkeeper Sukhadev Patil was denied a last-minute save as a sessions court rejected his anticipatory bail plea in an alleged cheating and forgery case.The court held that the custodial interrogation of the 27-year-old footballer, who has represented clubs in Indian Super League (ISL) and I-League, was necessary to trace how the applicant allegedly obtained a fake BCom degree certificate used to secure a central government job.The prosecution alleged that Patil, who hails from Walve Khurd village in Kolhapur district, was selected as an auditor under the sports quota in the office of the Principal Accountant General (Audit-I), Mumbai.Rejecting the plea, judge NR Pradhan said, “The applicant… prima facie submitted the said BCom degree certificate and obtained a central government job. Thus, the nature of offence is very serious.”The judge further said that his custodial interrogation is necessary to ascertain how he obtained fake BCom degree certificate. “He is the main source of information. Therefore, his custodial interrogation is necessary,” the judge said.According to public prosecutor Vijay Malankar, Patil submitted a BCom degree certificate and marksheet from Arni University to obtain the job.When the documents were sent for verification, the university allegedly informed the department that Patil had not taken admission there and that the ID, marksheet and degree were not issued by the university.Patil had sought protection apprehending arrest in an offence registered with Azad Maidan police station.The defence argued that Patil had filled an admission form through Arni University’s website, paid admission fees and appeared for examinations.The defence also submitted that Patil could be a victim of a racket preparing fake certificates, and that after receiving a departmental notice regarding the alleged fake certificate, Patil had sought 60 days to verify the documents.The defence said the department did not grant time and directly terminated Patil’s service.The defence further argued that there was a delay in lodging the FIR, no prima facie case was made out, and that the case was based on documents, making custodial interrogation unnecessary.The prosecution said custody was required to find out how Patil obtained the alleged fake BCom degree and marksheet.
