Canada Court Postpones Cross-Examination Of Admission Fraud Accused Brijesh Mishra

One of the main accused in the Canada college admission fraud case, Brijesh Mishra, will face cross-examination on the charges against him on another date after the Immigration Court considered his demand for postponement. 

According to Sumit Sen, Managing Partner, SEN LAW, who represents one of the former students Karamjeet Kaur facing deportation threats, Mishra told the court that he didn’t receive the summons before the hearing date on July 26. 

“Mishra has said that he didn’t receive the summons. So the judge agreed to his demand for postponement to maintain the procedural fairness, and his right to have access to legal counsel,” stated Sen in a press conference. 

Mishra was held on June 14 by the Canadian authorities, when he tried to re-entered Canada through a land border with the United States. Mishra attended a detention review with the Immigration and Refugee Board 48 hours later. The Jalandhar-based immigration agent is currently under the custody of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). 

Though Mishra’s submission to the judge seemed believable to the latter, Sen stated that they had submitted the summons at the CBSA office, and they were acknowledged by the Receiving Officer. 

“If in the next hearing, he claims that he didn’t receive the summons, we will ask for an affidavit from the Receiving Officer. We know that our summons was signed and accepted by someone at CBSA but it apparently never reached Mishra,” stated Sen. 

This is not the first time that Mishra has faced the law for his actions. Back in 2013, he was behind bars for forging documents for students wishing to study abroad. He used to run a consultancy firm called ‘Easy Way Immigration Consultancy,’ which was raided by the police who seized cash and passports from him. 

“Why was he let go back in 2013? He did the same crime of forging documents and he is now in jail." added Sen.

Mishra’s next bail hearing has now been set on August 10, 2023. The infamous agent is facing charges ranging from misrepresentation, unauthorised representation, and non-compliance with immigration rules as framed by the CBSA.

The alleged fraudster, who worked for Education Migration Services in Jalandhar, has been accused of signing fake admission letters of hundreds of Indians headed towards Canada between 2017-2020 while charging lakhs from them. 

The former students, who eventually took admissions in colleges across Canada, came under the radar of CBSA while applying for their permanent residency (PR). Many of the former students, most of whom are from Punjab, claim that they had no knowledge of the documents being fake.

In a press conference on June 14, Canadian Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Sean Fraser announced that Canada has created a task force of officials from CBSA and Immigration Refugees Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to analyse the cases. 

While the applications are being scrutinised by the officials, the former students have also received temporary residency permits (TRPs) for them to stay in Canada during the process.