india

Updated: May 12, 2015 12:23 IST

The crime branch of Delhi Police has registered a case against management guru and founder of IIPM (Indian Institute of Planning and Management) Arindam Chaudhuri on a complaint by the University Grants Commission (UGC), stating that the institute is ‘cheating’ and ‘fooling’ its students as it is not recognised by any regulatory body.

In its complaint, the UGC said that the institute did not have any permission to give management degrees.

A case under section 420 (cheating) of the IPC was registered against the institute’s dean Arindam Chaudhuri and the director, also his father, Malayendra Kisor Chaudhuri. Police said they are investigating the case and may initiate action next week.

The IIPM has inducted thousands of students under its undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in business and management, the fee for which ranges between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 14 lakh for 22 months.

Sources said the UGC has said that the degrees issued by IIPM are false and misleading as the institute is neither recognised by AICTE nor UGC. “The institute is not authorised to give out any management degree to its students as they do not have the statutory permission required for the same. However, it is still inducting thousands of students every year promising a degree,” the UGC complaint states.

The complaint also mentions that the institute is fooling the students by charging a hefty fee for the courses they are not authorised to conduct.

The Delhi high court in September 2014 had ordered that the institute can no longer use terms such as MBA, BBA or management course for the courses it offers. The court also restrained it from calling itself a management or business school. The high court had also directed the institute to put out on their website the fact that they are not recognised by any regulatory body.

“We received an official complaint from the University Grants Commission stating that the institute targets gullible students and promise to give degrees they are not authorised to. They stated that the institute’s dean Arindam Chaudhuri, and his father Malyendra Kisor Chaudhuri are duping students by fraudulently inducting them in several courses at the institute. Following the complaint we registered a case in the matter,” a police source said.

Speaking to the Hindustan Times, Arindam Chaudhuri said, “We are just being targeted and it is very unfortunate. We never claimed that the institute is recognized by a regulatory body. We have always maintained that students concerned about statutory recognition need not apply. We have mentioned the same in our prospectus as well and we are not hiding anything from our students. How can this amount to cheating when everything is clearly written on our website and the prospectus? We have faced this problem before, defended ourselves before the court and have come out clean. This time as well we will fight this. We been summoned by the police and will fully cooperate with them in the investigation.”

The police have begun the probe and sent a notice to Arindam and Malayendra Kisor Chaudhuri, asking them to join the investigation, sources said.