By Ann M. Koenig, AACRAO International Education Services
Chandra Mohan Jha (CMJ) University was established in 2009 as a private university in Meghalaya, a state in Northeast India, and recognized by the
Indian University Grants Commission. It offers Indian bachelor, master and doctoral degrees by direct instruction and distance education.
Several Indian news sources are reporting that the university has come under suspicion of issuing bogus degrees, including over 4,000 PhD degrees (over 430 in the last year), mostly in the Indian State of Maharashtra. The University Grants Commission may list CMJ as a university of disrepute and giving fraudulent degrees,┬" according to
an article in The Economic Times on June 7, 2013.
As reported in OneIndia on May 27, 2013, CMJ University could be dissolved for irregularities involving violation of University Grants Commission norms, including setting up off-campus centers and distance education programs across and outside the country. A spokesman for the Governor of Meghalaya said the violations amount to mismanagement, maladministration and failure┬" in accomplishing the university's objectives. The university has also failed to submit annual reports as required by the University Grants Commission.
The Governor has directed the university to refund all charges plus interest to any student wishing to withdraw from the university, and to furnish names and addresses of all students who were awarded PhD degrees. He also ordered the university to rescind all of the degrees it has awarded and to cease recruiting new students.
Three university officials, including the registrar, the deputy registrar and the human resources manager, have been arrested. The founder and Chancellor of the University, Chandra Mohan Jha,
has been hiding from authorities for the past month.
On June 7, 2013, the State of Maharashtra
issued a circular directing all non-agricultural universities in the state to cancel all appointments, pay increases and promotions made on the basis of degrees obtained from CMJ University, and to check the authenticity of staff and instructors' credentials awarded by other private universities. It asked the universities to file police charges against employees and lecturers appointed on the basis of bogus CMJ University degrees. The Times of India also reports that another circular would be issued by the State of Maharashtra asking universities in that state to file police charges against all CMJ students who had obtained degrees by fraudulent means.