An FIR has been filed against the founder of BYJU’s, a leading education technology firm, for allegedly using false information in their UPSC curriculum, according to a Mumbai police official.
The Aarey Colony police have booked BYJU’s owner Raveendran under IPC sections 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy) and section 69 (A) of the Information Technology Act, based on a complaint made by Crimeophobia.
The case was registered on July 30, he said.
Regarding The Complaint
Crimeophobia claimed that the ed-tech company mentioned the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as a nodal agency for the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNCTOC) in its UPSC curriculum (UNTOC).
The complainant, however, claimed that the CBI had informed him in writing that it was not the UNTOC’s nodal agency, according to the police source.
Crimeophobia founder Snehil Dhall said, “I came across misquoting about UNTOC (India) implementation details in May on BYJU’s UPSC curriculum, after which I approached them through an e-mail, asking them to make necessary changes. In their reply, they sent me a letter from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) about the CBI being the nodal agency. However, it was dated 2012, hence I found it unsatisfactory and approached the police.”
Mr Dhall said that the CBI informed him in writing in 2016 that it was not the nodal agency for UNTOC implementation, after which he filed a criminal writ petition in the Supreme Court against the Union of India and 45 ministries for failing to execute the UNTOC in India.
“The top agenda of India in UNSC is anti-terrorism and UNTOC is one of the core laws for cutting down terrorism, which has no takers for implementation due to which Crimeophobia had taken over the issue through Supreme Court,” he added.
BYJU’s On The Matter
A spokesperson of BYJU’s said, “We have obtained a copy of the FIR by making an application to the court. Our lawyers are reviewing the FIR’s contents and we will take necessary steps as per legal advice.”
“We received a letter from Crimeophobia, claiming that the preparatory material published by us for UPSC examination in relation to the UNTOC is incorrect. But contrary to the allegations, the material is factually correct and backed by a publicly available official memorandum issued by the MHA on April 30, 2012, a copy of which was also shared with Crimeophobia in response to the letter,” the spokesperson said, adding that all information that was utilised was verified.
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