Mumbai Police have charged the owner of edtech company BYJU’S with criminal conspiracy for allegedly putting ‘misleading’ information in its UPSC curriculum. As per section 120 (B) of the Indian Penal Code and section 69 (A) of the Information Technology Act, the Aarey Colony police station has filed a First Information Report (FIR) for criminal conspiracy. In the FIR, Raveendran, the company owner, has been named. A copy of the FIR can be obtained at The Free Press Journal.
Crimeophobia, a criminology firm, filed the FIR alleging the edtech firm stated in its UPSC curriculum that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is a nodal agency for the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC). The CBI, however, has stated in writing that UNTOC is not their nodal agency, according to the complainant.
‘I came across misquoting UNTOC (India) implementation details in May on BYJU’S UPSC curriculum, after which I approached them through an email, asking them to make necessary changes. In their reply, they sent me a letter from the Ministry of Home Affairs about CBI being the nodal agency, but it was dated 2012. Hence, I found it unsatisfactory and approached the police,’ Snehil Dhall, founder of Crimeophobia, said.
The CBI stated in a written statement in 2016 that it was not the nodal agency for the implementation of UNTOC. Following that, Dhall filed a criminal writ petition in the Supreme Court against the Union of India and its 45 departments with failing to implement UNTOC in the country.
‘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 SC,’ added Dhall. The UNTOC outlines three important protocols to be followed: human trafficking, weapons smuggling, and money laundering.
A BYJU’S spokesperson, in response, said, ‘We are not in a position to comment as we are yet to receive a copy of the FIR.’
However, the spokesperson further clarified, ‘We received a letter from Crimeophobia, a private entity, claiming that the preparatory material published by us for the UPSC examination in relation to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (UNTOC) is incorrect. However, contrary to the allegations, the material is factually correct and backed by an official communication issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, on April 30, 2012, a copy of which was also shared with Crimeophobia in response to the letter. All information that we utilise is derived from and verified against reliable sources,’ a BYJU’S spokesperson added.
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