Retired Orissa High Court Judge Booked in Medical College Scam

New Delhi: While corruption in Medical Council of India doesn’t surprise anyone, anymore, the involvement of a former acting Chief Justice of Orissa High Court has exposed, how deep the rot is.

Retired Justice IM Quddusi has been named as the accused number one in the FIR filed over allegations of bribery to settle a medical college recognition case in the Supreme Court.

The story begins with BP Yadav and Palash Yadav of the Prasad Education Trust of Lucknow which runs the Prasad Institute of Medical Science.

This college is one of the 46 colleges barred by the ‘Government from admitting medical students for the forthcoming 1 or 2 years because of substandard facilities," according to FIR.

They had challenged the debarment in the apex court. The court had directed the Government to consider the materials on record afresh.

The government after due diligence and after hearing the perspective of the college debarred the college from admitting fresh students for two years from 2017. It also authorized MCI to encash the bank guarantee of Rs 2 crore.

Amid the series of petitions in Supreme Court and Allahabad High Court, the Yadav duo got in touch with the retired Justice Quddusi.

As per the FIR, justice Qudussi and his confidant Bhawana Pandey assured them that the matter would be settled in the Apex Court.

However, in return, as per the CBI, "he demanded the gratification for inducing the public servants by corrupt and illegal means in lieu of the aforesaid help."

CBI, then, received information that this set of people was likely to meet a hawala operator Biswanath Agarwal who had allegedly agreed to deliver the cash.

In subsequent raids at 8 places, CBI recovered close to Rs 2 crore in cash and several incriminating documents. The agency had seized Rs 1 crore which the hawala operator had handed over to an aide of the retired Justice.

This investigation has once again brought to the fore the issue of judicial corruption and the FIR against a former judge, who promised to get a favourable verdict, has exposed what was only spoken about in the corridors of the various courtrooms across the country.