Gurugram school principal held over fake CBSE affiliation row

Arrested from Ahmedabad, accused ran unaffiliated school; 11 Class 10 students missed boards, court later allowed state board appearance

The principal of a private school in Sector 9B, Gurugram, was arrested on Saturday for allegedly operating the school without full affiliation from the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and cheating at least 11 Class 10 students who were unable to appear for their board examinations, police said on Sunday.

Gurugram school principal held over fake CBSE affiliation row

Police said the absconding principal, a resident of Basai village in Gurugram, was arrested from Ahmedabad in Gujarat. Earlier in March, the school’s chairman had also been arrested in connection with the case.

Sandeep Kumar, public relations officer of Gurugram Police, said the investigation is ongoing. “The principal was produced before the court today and has been sent to judicial custody,” he said.

The school did not respond to HT’s requests for a comment.

According to police, the chairman had earlier confessed during interrogation that his motive was to mint money, admitting that students were enrolled in classes 9 and 10 by misguiding them into believing that the school was CBSE affiliated.

Police said at least 11 Class 10 students could not appear for the CBSE board examinations that began on February 17, as the school failed to provide admit cards since their enrolment had not been completed through an affiliated school.

An FIR was registered at Sector 9A police station on February 18 against the chairman, principal, vice-principal, coordinator and other school officials under sections 3(5) (common intention), 316(2) (criminal breach of trust) and 318(4) (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita. Police alleged that forged documents were used to display a fake affiliation number.

Following the incident, parents approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court in February. On February 23, the court directed the Haryana Board of School Education to allow the students to appear for the Class 10 examination starting February 26. Ten students submitted their documents and received admit cards on February 24, while one student did not proceed with the state board examination.

A parent of one of the affected students, requesting anonymity, said, “We hope the school authorities are given strict punishment for what they did to our children.”