IIPM can’t offer or advertise for MBA, BBA programme

In judgement delivered upon a PIL filed by Careers360 Editor B Mahesh Sarma, the Delhi High ordered the following on September 26, 2014.

A visit by us on 25th September, 2014 to the website www.timi.edu of International Management Institute, Brussels, Belgium has also disclosed the same to be nothing different from “The Global initiative of Asia‟s leading business school – IIPM” and having been set up by the same Mr. Arindam Chaudhuri and his father Dr. Malay Chaudhuri. The respondent No.4 IIPM on the other hand, in its advertisements, is portraying as if it has recognition , if not in India from UGC or AICTE, from a foreign Management Institute namely IMI, Belgium and which advertisements have the potential of misguiding young minds who have a craze for „foreign education‟ in the hope it will open doors for international placements/employments and cleverly concealing from them that IMI Belgium is nothing but an alter ego or another face of IIPM. A visit to the website www.iipm.in/institutions on 25th September, 2014 disclosed the following inscription:-

In our opinion, the aforesaid is clearly a maze created by the respondent No.4 IIPM to entrap students to enlist with it in the hope of acquiring a qualification which the respondent No.4 IIPM is not entitled to confer and thereby enriching the respondent No.4 IIPM to a considerable extent as is evident from the huge expenditure earlier as well as now being incurred by the respondent No.4 IIPM in publicity in print and electronic media.

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The court also opined that IIPM violated the court's previous order in restraining the institute form advertising without court’s approval. 

“We take a lenient view of the matter and, “direct the respondents No 4 IIPM and its responsible officials including its dean Mr Arindam Chaudhuri to forthwith remove the said advertisements from their website and to comply in letter and spirit with the statement given and recorded in the order dated 2nd December, 2013. The respondent No 4 IIPM and its responsible officials including its dean Mr Arindam Chaudhuri to also within one week hereof, display on their website an apology for having so violated the statement in the nature of undertaking given to the court.”

IIPM has been directed by the court as below:

(A) The respondent No.4 IIPM and its management / officials including its Dean Mr. Arindam Chaudhuri are restrained with immediate effect from using the word “MBA, BBA, Management Course, Management School, Business School or B-School” in relation to the Courses / programmes being conducted by them or in relation to the representations if any made to the public at large and/or to their prospective clients, customers or students;

(B) The respondent No.4 IIPM and its management / officials including its Dean Mr. Arindam Chaudhuri are directed to prominently display on the website of IIPM that they are not recognized by any statutory body / authority and the status of the Foreign University / Institution and/or its Degree or Certificate in the country of its origin and whose Degree or certificate the students enrolling in the Course / Programme offered by the respondent No.4 IIPM would be entitled to;

(C) The respondent No.4 IIPM and its management / officials including its Dean Mr. Arindam Chaudhuri to within one week hereof, upload and display prominently on the website of the respondent No.4 IIPM this judgment to ensure that attention of anyone visiting the said website is drawn thereto (we clarify that the short time of one week is given since this is admission time, when students not admitted to Institutes / Colleges of their first choice, would be queuing for other Institutes).

The court in its order further stated:

“We again clarify that the aforesaid would not relieve the respondent No.4 IIPM from the liability, if any in any action taken by any other person for having been misled in the past.”

“We also impose costs of Rs.25,000 on the respondent No.4 IIPM, to be paid to Delhi Legal Services Authority within four weeks of today.”

Click here for the judgement copy by the Delhi High Court.

Read more related stories:

UGC says IIPM an unrecognized institution

Uttarakhand High Court quashes IIPM’s case against Careers360

IIPM - Best only in claims?

IIPM's offering of MBA/ BBA degrees is illegal and students using the title can be prosecuted

IIPM makes another claim: Over to you Mr Sibal  

Students beware! Degrees for SALE

Twitter reaction on Delhi High Court judgement:

Court bars IIPM from running a BBA/MBA course and advertising itself as a business/management school. This is big. Not a good week for ToI.

— Rahul Bhatia (@rahulabhatia) September 26, 2014

All IIPM students have finally realised that Arindam Chaudhari made them pay an awful lot of money for a laptop.

— Sting Ray (@Purba_Ray) September 27, 2014

It is time fr HRD Minister to act against crooks like IIPM. he is only one among many

— Chandru (@ChandrusWeb) September 26, 2014

This part of the #IIPM order needs repeating: if you've felt misled by them at any time in the past, you can take them to court.

— Rahul Bhatia (@rahulabhatia) September 26, 2014

Delhi HC basically calls IIPM a fraud. No Arindam ji, you can't sue the High-Court in that Assam court you love.

— Amreekan Desi (@amreekandesi) September 27, 2014