Engineers arrested for fake degrees

Judgement of the act

The act of the engineers is unethical and illegal, whatever their background.

• Dishonesty: producing and using fake degrees is forgery and deceit. The Muluki Criminal Code 2074 punishes forgery of documents and the use of false documents. The Nepal Engineering Council Act 2055 allows registration only on a recognised qualification, so practising with a fake one is illegal and can lead to cancellation of their registration.
• Danger to the public: an engineer's first duty is public safety. A person who has not met the education standard may design or supervise unsafe structures, so society is put at risk even if the person performed well.
• Unfairness: they took the place of qualified candidates and damaged the reputation of the profession and the colleges.
• Their situation: repeated failure, career pressure and lack of options are human reasons and may earn some sympathy, but they do not justify fraud. The honest way was to pass the failed subjects, apply for other courses, or choose work that does not require a degree. Good job performance does not change the fact that the qualification was false; the court may consider it when deciding the punishment.

Suggestions to prevent such cases

1. Employers and the Nepal Engineering Council should verify certificates directly with the university or board before employment and registration, and a national digital certificate verification system should be developed.
2. Strict punishment, cancellation of registration and publication of cases to create deterrence.
3. Give students second chances and support: counselling, remedial classes, flexible re-examination, and alternative technical paths, so that failure is not seen as the end of a career.
4. Teach professional ethics in engineering education and run awareness programmes.
5. Reduce the importance of paper degrees alone by also testing real skills in recruitment.
6. Encourage reporting of fake certificates (whistle-blower protection).