Kozhikode: A total of 157 fake certificates were identified over the last four years in the name of Calicut University. Most of these forged documents were used for higher studies and employment.

Private companies and educational institutions abroad often send certificates to the university for verification. From such submissions, 157 forged certificates were detected across BTech, BA, BCom, BSc and PG categories. Since 2018, 39 cases have been handed over to the police, while the remaining ones have been kept aside for further action.

When the Tabulation Section verifies and confirms that a certificate is fake, the standard procedure is to inform both the institution that sent the certificate and the Legal Cell/Police. However, identifying the source of fake certificates is not easy. In many cases, the certificates are sent through agencies, so the individual’s address is not available. The register numbers on such certificates are often incorrect, making it impossible to trace the person that way either.

Although the Syndicate had decided last October to make it mandatory to submit the applicant’s personal details and a copy of an approved identity card along with certificates sent for verification, this has not yet been implemented.

In 2019, the Syndicate also decided that the university should develop its own software for certificate verification. That too has not been implemented.

At present, certificate verification is carried out through private software systems.