Congressman-turned-BJP leader Bam's college in Indore faces Rs 5 lakh fine for paper leak

Indore: Indore-based Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya (DAVV) on Wednesday decided to impose a fine of Rs 5 lakh on a city college run by Congressman-turned-BJP member Akshay Kanti Bam for allegedly leaking a paper of Master of Business Administration (MBA) course last month, officials said.

Bam hogged headlines in late April when he withdrew his nomination at the last moment as the Congress candidate from the Indore Lok Sabha seat. He later joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The officials said on June 7, the police arrested a computer operator and two students of Idyllic Institute of Management in a case of leaking of the question paper of "Quantitative Techniques" subject of the first semester of MBA on social media before the examination on May 25.

According to the management school's website, the DAVV-affiliated institute is run by a committee and local businessman Akshay Kanti Bam is the higher education body's chairman, they said.

After a meeting of the DAVV working council, Vice-Chancellor Renu Jain told reporters that the investigation conducted by the university administration in the MBA paper leak case has confirmed that Idyllic Institute of Management committed a "serious lapse in keeping the confidential question paper safe before the examination".

"On the basis of the report of the investigation committee, we have decided that a fine of Rs 5 lakh will be imposed on this college. Besides, the college will not be designated as an examination centre for the next three years. As far as the decision to end the college's affiliation with DAVV is concerned, a committee will decide on this matter," she noted.

According to the VC, a female employee of the management institute admitted during investigation that before the examination, the question papers were kept in the locker of the college's office instead of a police station.

When contacted, Bam told PTI, "We came to know about the decision of the DAVV administration to take action against our college through media reports. The college management has not received any formal order from the DAVV administration so far. We will take appropriate action if we receive any such order."