Even as the T20 International captain of India Women’s team, Harmanpreet Kaur, on Tuesday refused to comment on the allegation that her Bachelor’s degree is fake, her father Harmander Singh Bhullar has come to her defence claiming her degree is genuine.

At a private promotional event in Mohali, Harmanpreet refused to comment when asked about the controversy over her Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree. The degree purported to have been issued by Chaudhary Charan Singh University in Meerut in 2011 was declared fake after the university said Harmanpreet was never a student.

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Harmanpreet, who is from Moga, had joined the Punjab Police as a Deputy Superintendent of Police on March 1 this year after being appointed to the post through sports quota for her achievements in cricket. She is likely to lose her job as the post mandates a Bachelor’s degree.

READ | Harmanpreet Kaur may lose police job, Meerut university says her degree fake

Her father, however, said the degree produced by her was genuine and that Harmanpreet had got her previous job with the Western Railway too on the basis of the same degree. Bhullar asked if the Railways found the degree to be genuine, how could it be termed fake now.

He said he would personally go to Meerut to find out the truth in the matter.

Bhullar, however, didn’t answer if the degree from CCSU was received through regular or correspondence mode.

Harmanpreet was part of the Indian squad in the 2017 Women’s World Cup where she scored an unbeatable 177 runs off 115 balls in the semi-final against Australia — the highest individual score for India in the Women’s World Cup history.

After this particular performance, the Punjab CM had offered the deputy superintendent of police’s (DSP) post to Harmanpreet. She was at that time employed with the Western Railway (WR) with which she had signed a five-year bond.

Harmanpreet resigned from WR but her resignation was not accepted as she had completed only three years of service and had to pay back five years’ salary as per the terms of the bond. Amarinder had then taken up her case with Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal so that she could join the Punjab Police.

On March 1, Harmanpreet finally joined the Punjab Police as a DySP, with Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and Director General of Police Suresh Arora pinning the stars on her uniform.

However, the Punjab Police are now learnt to have written to the state’s home department, headed by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, saying Harmanpreet could not continue as a DySP in the absence of a genuine graduation degree.

The Chaudhary Charan Singh University in Meerut has said the degree certificate furnished by her for the job had not been issued by it.

Speaking to The Statesman, Prof Sanjay Bharadwaj, head of the vigilance cell of the university, confirmed that Harmanpreet was never enrolled as a student.

Though Harmanpreet refused to comment on the matter, she said she was ready to face any probe.

The ace cricketer from Punjab, who made her debut in international cricket in 2009, was conferred the prestigious Arjun Award in 2017.