FIR Against BYJU's Owner for 'Misleading' Information in UPSC Curriculum

The complainant has alleged that BYJU's has misrepresented CBI as a nodal agency of UN convention against crime.

Byju Raveendran, owner of leading education tech company BYJU’s

(Photo: Wikipedia Commons)

The Mumbai Police on Thursday, 5 August, registered an FIR against Byju Raveendran, owner of the leading education tech company BYJU’s, for allegedly publishing misleading information in its UPSC curriculum, reported news agency PTI.

According to the report, the complaint was filed by a company named Crimephobia who has alleged that in the UPSC curriculum published by BYJU's, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is described as a nodal agency for the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC).

“I came across misquoting about UNTOC's 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 about the CBI being the nodal agency. However, it was dated 2012, hence I found it unsatisfactory and approached the police,” reported PTI, quoting Snehil Dhall, founder of Crimephobia.

Dhall added that the CBI in 2016 had given it in writing that it was not the nodal agency for implementation on UNTOC. The report further states that after receiving the CBI clarification, Dhall filed a criminal writ in the Supreme Court against the Union of India and 45 ministries for not implementing UNTOC in the country

In response to the FIR, BJYU’s have stated that they obtained a copy of the FIR and their legal representation is reviewing its content.

"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," reported PTI, quoting the BYJU’s spokesperson.