Medical college scam: Serving HC Judge booked by CBI – The Economic Times

Four months after the then Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi gave a go-ahead to CBI to book a serving High Court Judge, the agency has registered a corruption case against Justice S N Shukla of the Allahabad High Court for his alleged involvement in a medical college admission scandal.

Besides Justice Shukla, former Odisha High Court Judge I M Quddusi- who already stands charge sheeted by the agency in the scandal- along with five others have been booked by the CBI in a fresh FIR registered on December 4.

The agency, on Friday, conducted searches at the premises of accused- including Justice Shukla- in Lucknow, Meerut and Delhi. The agency claims to have recovered several documents.

Justice Shukla is accused of favouring a private medical college by extending the deadline for admission of students in contravention of the existing rules.

In July this year, the then CJI Ranjan Gogoi wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking initiation of a motion in Parliament for removal of Justice Shukla.

Last year, an in house committee appointed by the Apex Court had recommended removal of Justice Shukla indicting him on account of ” judicial irregularities”.

In 2018 the then CJI Dipak Misra had asked Shukla to resign or take retire voluntarily after a committee comprising then Madras High Court Chief Justice Indira Banerjee, Sikkim High Court Chief Justice SK Agnihotri and Madhya Pradesh High Court’s Justice PK Jaiswal found force in the accusations against Justice Shukla. The Judge was removed from all judicial and administrative work and stands debarred from entering the High court.

“The present FIR is part of the same transaction and under law separate FIR cannot be registered”, said Advocate Vijay Aggarwal, lawyer for Justice (retd) Quddusi.

As per the new FIR (December 4), Prasad Institute of Medical Sciences was debarred by the Central government for admitting medical students on account of sub standard facilities and non fulfilment of required criteria in May 2017 along with 46 other medical colleges.

This decision was challenged by Prasad Education Trust in the Supreme Court. The FIR alleges that subsequently a conspiracy was allegedly hatched among the accused and the writ petition before the Apex Court was withdrawn.

A petition was filed before Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court on August 24, 2017. It was further alleged in the FIR that the petition was heard on August 25 by a division bench comprising of Justice SN Shukla and a favourable order was passed the same day.

For this favourable order an alleged illegal gratification was paid by the institute to one of the accused named in the FIR, CBI has alleged. The agency has alleged that Justice (retd) Quddusi along with a private person met Justice Shukla on August 25, 2017 at Shukla’s residence in Lucknow and “delivered illegal gratification”. It is further alleged that after the Supreme Court differed with the HC’s decision, Quddusi contacted Shukla to return the illegal gratification and a part of him it was returned (by Shukla).

In its previous FIR, registered in September 2017, the agency had booked former Odisha High Court Judge Justice I M Quddusi, a woman, public servants and private persons on corruption and criminal conspiracy charges.

As per the said FIR (September 2017), the medical council had debarred a college run by Prasad Education Trust, Lucknow on account of non-fulfilment of the criteria and substandard facilities. B P Yadav and Palash Yadav, who were managing the affairs of the trust, challenged the debarment in the Supreme Court and had been holding regular meetings with alleged co-conspirators in Delhi to find a way to settle the issue, it said.

The top court directed the state government to give a hearing to the said college and then decide on the matter. After the hearing, the government in August 2017 debarred the college from admitting fresh students for 2017-18 and 2018-19, and authorised MCI to encash its bank guarantees of Rs 2 crore.

The FIR alleged that the Yadavs got in touch with Quddusi and co-accused Bhawana Pandey, an alleged fixer, to get the matter settled. Quddusi and Pandey allegedly assured to get the matter settled in the apex court and engaged another private person, Biswanath Agrawala for “settlement”.

via Medical college scam: Serving HC Judge booked by CBI – The Economic Times