CMJ University, Meghalaya: ED says attachments in fake degree case now exceed Rs 69 crore
Dissolved in 2013, the Shillong-based private university is still the subject of a money-laundering case over about 20,570 degrees that police say were illegally issued. The ED's latest reported attachment was in July 2025.
CMJ University in Shillong was a private university set up in 2009. More than a decade after the state ordered it dissolved, it is still at the centre of a money-laundering case brought by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Dissolution and the police case
According to The Statesman, the Governor of Meghalaya, as the university's Visitor, ordered it dissolved in 2013 after complaints of fraud, and the Meghalaya High Court upheld the order in 2021. The state's CID filed an FIR and chargesheet against the university, its chancellor Chandra Mohan Jha, his family members (who are trustees of the CMJ Foundation) and others. The case alleges they sold degree certificates to thousands of students. Police say about 20,570 degrees were illegally issued.
What the ED has found
In December 2024 the ED searched premises in New Delhi and Shillong and froze Rs 1.53 crore in bank accounts, The Tribune reported. The Tribune quoted a senior ED officer as saying digital evidence showed degrees dated 2012 and 2013 were still being sold years after the university was dissolved.
The ED estimates the proceeds of crime at Rs 83.52 crore, according to The Statesman. The agency says the money was routed through bank accounts, fixed deposits, mutual funds and insurance policies, and partly put into property. It has filed a prosecution complaint before the special PMLA court in Shillong.
On 21 July 2025 the ED provisionally attached four properties in New Delhi worth Rs 19.28 crore and Rs 1 crore in bank balances belonging to the chancellor and his family, according to a PTI report published by ThePrint. The ED said total attachments in the case had passed Rs 69 crore. EFC found no newer ED action reported in 2026. The accused have not been convicted.
A warning about old degrees
The case shows that degrees bearing the name of a dissolved institution may still be circulating, sometimes with backdated years. Employers and universities that receive a CMJ University certificate should not accept it at face value. They should ask the Meghalaya authorities responsible for the dissolved university's records whether a matching enrolment and examination record exists.
This News Desk report summarises information published by the sources above, written in our own words. Persons named in criminal matters are accused, not convicted, unless a court has ruled otherwise. To report an error, use our contact page.
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