NEW DELHI: The HRD ministry is once again facing a degree row. Newly-inducted minister of state for HRD Ram Shankar Katheria on Thursday found himself at the centre of a controversy after it was alleged that his graduation marksheet was forged. Katheria strongly denied the charge, calling it a political conspiracy.

This is the second time an HRD minister in the Narendra Modi government is facing such an allegation. Earlier, HRD minister Smriti Irani was alleged to have provided conflicting affidavits of her educational qualifications to the Election Commission.

In 2004, Irani had submitted that she had obtained a graduate degree in Arts (BA, 1996) from Delhi University (School of Correspondence); and in 2014, she submitted that she had completed a part of a graduate degree in Commerce (Part I BCom, 1994) from Delhi University.

A case was filed in 2010 by Katheria's rival BSP candidate in Allahabad High Court charging him with forging his marksheet. The court has, however, referred the matter to the sessions court in Agra, which will hear it on November 26.

"I was slapped with four cases every day by the (erstwhile) BSP government deliberately. They did not get any proof. I was cleared of all charges even when BSP was in power," he said, rejecting the allegations.

Katheria told a news channel that this case of forgery against him was "politically motivated" and expressed hope that he would come clean. According to the complaint, he had forged his Hindi as well as English marks.

A day after the swearing-in of ministers on Sunday, an NGO had released a report which said Katheria, BJP MP from Agra, had a case related to attempt to murder and one related to promoting enmity between different groups registered against him.

However, finance minister Arun Jaitley dismissed the allegation that there were 27 criminal cases against Katheria, including one of attempt to murder. "Every BJP worker in the state has a criminal case filed by the Akhilesh Yadav government," he said.