New Delhi: Optas Group founder and chairman Gurinder Bhatti is in the news after counsel for his real-estate firm, GB Realty, filed a defamation complaint against social media influencers and journalists, including those based in Canada, over posts linking the group to alleged student grant fraud in Canada.
This is not Bhatti’s first encounter with the law. In 2013, his immigration consultancy was at the centre of a Punjab Police crackdown on travel and immigration agents accused of illegal practices. Jalandhar district police arrested him on charges of cheating and criminal conspiracy, alleging that his firm, Express Student Service, operated offices in Mohali and Jalandhar and duped students aspiring to study abroad.
According to the police, the firm allegedly charged students Rs 7 lakh for visa-related services, in addition to Rs 40,000 towards visa application fees. Bhatti was also accused of preparing forged bank statements and education loan sanction documents to establish the financial requirements for visa applications.
However, in February 2019, a Jalandhar court acquitted him. The court observed that although the prosecution had submitted bank statements it alleged were forged by Bhatti, it had failed to establish their authenticity beyond reasonable doubt. It had neither examined witnesses from the relevant banks nor produced irrefutable evidence to substantiate its case.
Newspaper clippings of Bhatti’s 2013 arrest have resurfaced in Canadian media as scrutiny of his education businesses has intensified.
Also Read: Canada OSAP student grant ‘scam’ & why a Chandigarh real estate group filed defamation case over it
Canadian colleges under scrutiny
The latest allegations concern the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP), a financial aid scheme that helps students pay for college and university education through grants and loans.
According to Canadian media reports, the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities earlier this year disqualified students at five private career colleges from receiving OSAP assistance for the coming year. The move followed concerns over enrolment practices at the institutes, including what the ministry described as “high-risk” admissions, “inadequate attendance tracking” and “compromised participation in asynchronous programmes” (online learning).
Four of the colleges belonged to the Academy of Learning Career College network in Ontario, which operates as a franchise under Opulence Education Group, part of the Optas Group. According to the company’s website, Opulence Education Group was co-founded by Bhatti and Puneet Khanna.
The scrutiny has brought renewed attention to Bhatti’s education businesses and their role in Canada’s private college sector.
Business expansion continues amid scrutiny
Despite the controversy, Bhatti appeared at the Chandigarh-based TEDxSukhna Lake session on August 26, introducing himself as “GB” and telling the audience that he ran 20 businesses across five sectors, including manufacturing, global education, real estate and information technology, with operations spanning Australia, India, London and Canada.
His real-estate portfolio has also been expanding. On 4 September, he went live on Instagram to celebrate the acquisition of Downtown Mohali, a prominent commercial property in Mohali. Appearing pleased with the milestone, he also struck a note of humility.
“Kalla insan kuchh bhi nhi kar sakda, jado blessings aandi aa, support aa jan jandi hai, trust aa jandi hai, ude baad cho hi urja aa jandi hai shareer mein” (An individual cannot achieve anything on their own; when blessings, support, and trust come into the picture, that is when a surge of energy enters the body), he said.
The acquisition added to GB Realty’s growing portfolio in the Chandigarh tri-city region. The company had also drawn attention through its association with Bollywood actor Salman Khan, who was roped in to promote its real-estate projects.
It is this business that Bhatti’s legal action seeks to protect. An FIR registered on 13 October at Punjab’s SAS Nagar Police Station, following a complaint by GB Realty’s counsel, alleged that social media posts linking the company and Bhatti to the Canadian controversy are damaging to the firm’s reputation and were intended to undermine its real-estate projects in Mohali.
From student visas to diversified business group
Bhatti’s business ambitions appear to have taken shape early in life. In a 2022 The Times of India report, he recalled being inspired by an aunt who visited his family from the United Kingdom.
“It was then that I decided to study overseas and create a quality life for myself and my family. My journey started with filing applications for a UK student visa after months of research in internet cafes and with the help of my college professors,” he was quoted as saying.
After completing his higher education and returning to India in the early 2000s, Bhatti identified an opportunity in immigration consultancy and visa services for Indians seeking to study abroad. In August 2007, he founded Express Student Service in Jalandhar.
According to publicly available information, the firm initially focused on the United Kingdom before expanding its services to Australia, Canada and Europe, building partnerships with universities and colleges in these regions.
Bhatti subsequently diversified into education through Opulence Education Group, the international education arm of Optas Group. According to the conglomerate’s website, its portfolio includes more than 13 colleges offering programmes in business, healthcare, information technology, hospitality and law to over 14,000 students.
Four colleges in its wider network have come under scrutiny in Ontario over their enrolment and attendance practices, leading to restrictions on students’ access to OSAP assistance. The allegations and regulatory action have since become part of the wider controversy surrounding Bhatti’s business empire.
After expanding into hospitality and entertainment, Bhatti entered real estate through GB Realty, developing projects across the Chandigarh tri-city region. The company is now at the centre of the defamation complaint against journalists and social media influencers.
Defamation complaint draws criticism in Canada
The FIR has also triggered a response from Juno News, an independent Canadian news organisation whose social media posts were cited in the complaint. The organisation condemned the police action and called on Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to condemn it.
“I will not tolerate a foreign police state like India threatening my journalists. We will fight for the truth and won’t be silenced by them,” Juno News founder Keean Bexte said.
In his complaint, GB Realty counsel Paras Sharma described the posts linking the company and Bhatti to the alleged Canadian fraud as “false” and “baseless”. He alleged that the claims threatened the trust of investors, buyers, banks and business partners on whom the company depended.
(Edited by Chingkheinganbi Mayengbam)