The Madras High Court on Thursday granted bail to an MBBS student who was arrested in an impersonation scam during the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, The Hindu reported. However, the court denied bail to his father, Venkatesan.

Justice GR Swaminathan of the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court said that the father had been at the centre of the impersonation plan, while the son played along. The judge said it appeared that the father had drawn inspiration from the Tamil movie Vasool Raja MBBS. Denying Venkatesan bail, the court asked why his plea should be considered when he had failed to cooperate with the investigation.

The court said that the impersonator has not yet been identified or caught. It added that the Crime Branch Criminal Investigation Department has to secure the impersonator and his modus operandi has to be discovered.

The court took cognisance of the information provided by the National Testing Agency, that while the student took the exam in Chennai, the impersonator wrote the exam at a Mumbai court.

The court said it had granted bail to the student considering his age and his future, The Times of India reported. The bail was granted on the condition that he appear before the Madurai CB-CID deputy superintendent of police at 10.30 am every day.

On October 4, the High Court had said that the impersonation fraud could have ramifications across India, and sought a reply from the Centre. The court made the Union Health and Human Resource Development Ministries parties to the case, saying the fraud may not be confined to just the state of Tamil Nadu.

The case came to light in September after Government Theni Medical College Dean AK Rajendran received two emails alleging that the MBBS student had been admitted to the institution via fraudulent means. The student is accused of hiring a proxy to write the NEET exam and getting admission to the college based on the marks the proxy obtained.

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