Medical college scam: CBI raids in Lucknow, Delhi

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday carried out searches at seven locations in New Delhi, Lucknow and Meerut, including the premises of a former high court judge, in connection with the probe into the irregularities in the admission process of a private medical college.

A senior CBI official said in Delhi that the agency carried out searches after it registered a case against seven people, including a then high court judge, for criminal conspiracy and several sections under the Prevention of Corruption Act on allegations, including bribery, with regard to irregularities related to admission at a private medical institute.

According to an agency source, the permission to the CBI to register a case came after it wrote a letter to then Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi earlier this year, stating that a preliminary inquiry was lodged by it against the judge and others on the advice of the previous CJI, Dipak Misra, when the matter regarding the alleged misconduct by the judge was brought to his knowledge.

The official said that in the FIR, the complainant alleged that the private medical institute in Lucknow was debarred by the Central government from admitting students for the forthcoming two years because of sub-standard facilities and non-fulfilment of the required criteria in May, 2017, alongwith 46 other medical colleges which were debarred on similar grounds.

The agency official further said that the education trust of the institute was agitated by the Central government's decision to debar it from taking admissions and thus it hatched a conspiracy to sidestep the central ruling.

He said the accused first withdrew their writ petition from the Supreme Court and filed a writ petition before the division bench of Allahabad High Court on August 24, 2017.

It was further alleged in the FIR that this petition was heard on August 25, 2017 by the division bench of Allahabad High Court, Lucknow Bench, comprising the accused judge, and an order was passed on the same day.

The FIR also alleged that in order to have a favourable order, an illegal gratification was paid to one of the persons named in the FIR by the private persons of the said education trust.

The official said the searches, which started early in the morning, have led to the recovery of certain incriminating documents, including investments and financial transactions.

Retired Odisha High Court Judge I.M. Quddusi was arrested in 2017 and was recently chargesheeted in the medical college scandal being probed by the agency.

( With inputs from IANS )