High court directs CBI to probe Ayush scam in UP

Lucknow, May 25 The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has directed the CBI to investigate the alleged fraudulent admission scam in Ayush colleges.

The high court has also ordered to take strict action if the roles of former minister Dharam Singh Saini and then additional chief secretary are found to be suspicious.

While granting conditional bail to petitioner Ritu Garg, the single bench of Justice Rajeev Singh issued this direction to the CBI. The Uttar Pradesh government had already recommended CBI inquiry into the matter twice.

Dharam Singh Saini was the Ayush Minister in the previous Yogi Adityanath government. He had switched over to the Samajwadi Party on the eve of Assembly elections in 2022. Later, he had quit SP too. He has been trying to get back into the BJP, but his alleged involvement in the Ayush scam has apparently become a hurdle.

The alleged scam in Ayush colleges came to the fore in November 2022. The Uttar Pradesh government had twice recommended to get the entire matter investigated by the CBI, but no further action was taken in this matter.

Dharam Singh Saini has been accused of taking bribe in admissions.

The statement of his personal secretary Raj Kumar Diwakar against Saini can increase his difficulties. The secretary has alleged that Saini received a bribe of Rs 1 crore and 10 lakh for recognition of UG in Ayush and Rs 50 lakh for PG. This statement of the secretary has also been filed in the court.

The admission scam in Ayush colleges was investigated by the UP STF, which recently filed a charge sheet.

In 2021-22, a board was constituted by the Directorate of Ayurveda for counselling. Due to non-availability of IT cell, the counselling contract was given to a private agency, Soft Solution, under the supervision of the board.

The private agency was responsible for everything, from counselling to verification. After admission, seat allotment was also done. However, records of 1,181 students were not found in the merit list of NEET counselling. Out of these, 22 students were such who did not appear in NEET at all.

After the preliminary investigation, the Directorate of Ayurveda sent the list of suspected students along with their names and addresses to the respective ayurvedic colleges.

It is alleged that the private agency tampered not only in the database of NEET, but also in the website.