Mumbai: The state govt has come down heavily on Bandra’s Dr Baliram Hiray College of Architecture for running an unauthorised programme, BSc/BVoc in Interior Design, and cheating and misleading students. After an inquiry by a fact-finding committee set up by the state’s Directorate of Technical Education (DTE), it has been recommended that the college refund within 30 days the entire tuition fee or any other fees it has collected from students since its inception in 2021-22. It has also imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh each on the management’s president and the college principal.The institute has been directed to shut down the unauthorised course, and the govt has also sought an explanation as to why it should not write to the Council of Architecture recommending closure of the entire college, including its BArch and MArch programmes. The action was taken against the institute as per the provisions of the Maharashtra Unauthorised Institutions and Unauthorised Courses Act of 2013. Institute officials were not available for comment.The 13-page govt report has directed the institute to not only refund the fees and other amounts collected from students till date, but has also asked it to submit proof within a period of 30 days. The report has recommended police action against the president and principal and has also issued a show-cause notice seeking an explanation within 15 days to the DTE, and to Mumbai University, explaining why a recommendation should not be made to the Council of Architecture and the govt to close the college. This explanation will then be forwarded to the govt for appropriate action, it added.More than 130 students who took admission to the college from 2021-22 to the BSc/B Voc (Interior Design) had filed police complaints alleging academic fraud, institutional misrepresentation, economic offence, discrepancies in academic records, lack of transparency and mental harassment by college authorities. The misrepresentation came to light when the first batch of students completed the programme and was to graduate. The students were told the course was affiliated to Sangai University in Manipur, which was derecognised in 2024. Later, students were told that they would get the degrees from Sikkim University, which was also on UGC’s defaulters’ list.Santosh Gangurde, state general secretary of the Maharashtra Navnirman Vidyarthi Sena, who took up the matter with the govt after students approached him with complaints, said, “These measures send a strong message to institutions operating unauthorised courses and exploiting students, and will help prevent similar irregularities in the future.”
