Court rejects bail plea of college principal accused of defrauding students of degrees
The plea of Sunil Magdum was rejected by the court which noted that the fraud damaged the academic education of the students.
Session court rejects the anticipatory bail plea of the principal of a Bandra college in a case by filed by students alleging him of giving degree from an unrecognized institute. (Representational Image)
A sessions court rejected the anticipatory bail plea of a 64-year-old principal of a Bandra college in a case filed on the basis of complaints from students who said that they were given degrees from an unrecognised institute.
The plea of Sunil Magdum was rejected by the court which noted that the fraud damaged the academic education of the students. An FIR was filed at Kherwadi police in Bandra (East) of a student who said that she had paid Rs 80,000 annual fees of Dr. Baliram Hirey College of Architecture and taken admission in 2022-23 for a course. She continued at the college for two years, with assurance given to her and other students at the college that it was associated with the Sangai International University, recognised by the University Grants Commission and placement would be provided for students.
The complaint said that although clarification was issued by the UGC that the college was not recognised and not entitled to grant degrees, the authorities did not pass on this information to students. When the college did not offer internships to the students after the second year, they began seeking clarification from the college. Some of them checked the UGC website and found that the concerned university was not recognised. In February 2026, the students received their marksheets, which did not have any seal or stamp of the University, with names not written properly. Students also found that the college had issued marksheets from two different universities.
The accused had claimed that in 2021-22, the University was recognised by the UGC and the students were not kept in the dark about the developments, including that the institute will act only as a training and coaching center.
“The accused were not entitled to conduct any course and to take any examination but cheated students for so many years. This accused is a principal and this administrative post is supposed to offer proper education to the students. This accused’s prima-facie conduct shows that he was aware that the victims were being cheated. Prima-facie, there may be other people also involved in this fraud. This fraud damages the academic education of the students. The students suffered a lot. It is a serious offence,” the court said.
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