The Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Cell (IPREC) of the Tamil Nadu Police raided a bookstore in the city and seized a huge quantity of pirated textbooks of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
On the basis of a complaint received from the business manager, NCERT, Bengaluru, regarding illegal sale of fake and duplicate textbooks, IPREC, Chennai, raided Arraba Book Traders on Bunder Street, George Town. During the raid, 2,338 duplicate or fake textbooks of belonging to Class I to XII, worth ₹2.35 lakh, were seized. A case was registered under the provisions of the Copyright Act, 1957, and Sections 486 (selling goods marked with a counterfeit property mark) and 420 (cheating) of the IPC against bookseller Basheer Ahmed.
D. Ashok Kumar, Superintendent of Police, IPREC, said further investigation was on.
IPREC is the premier agency of enforcing Copyright Act, Patent Act, IPR Acts. Intellectual property rights is an umbrella term that includes patents, copyright, trademarks, design registration, plant variety, trade secrets and geographical Indications.
An official of NCERT said: “We were getting information that the Chennai market has been developing as a hub for illegal sale of pirated books. So, we started conducting raids. This is not the end. We will continue the drive with the help of the police.” He added that all books of the NCERT were available on its website to download. NCERT has stated the facility to procure the books online from webportal and the books are delivered at free of cost at any place in the country.
