CBI arrests retired HC judge in corruption case

CBI has arrested a retired Odisha High Court judge and four others accusing them of trying to influence senior officials to illegally overturn a decision that debarred a Lucknow-based medical college.

The arrests of Justice (Retd) I M Quddusi and others came after the agency registered an FIR against six persons and conducted searches at nine places including Delhi, Chandrasekharpur and Bhubaneshwar (Odhisha) and Lucknow. Around Rs 91.90 lakh was recovered during the searches.

The other arrested persons have been identified as B P Yadav and Palash Yadav of the Prasad Educational Trust which runs Prasad Institute of Medical Science in Lucknow, a suspected middleman Biswanath Agrawala and Ramdev Saraswat, according to CBI spokesperson.

This medical college was among 46 colleges, which were barred from admitting students because of "substandard facilities and non-fulfilment of the required criteria" last month. Besides disallowing the college to admit students for 2017-18 and 2018-19, the government also authorised the Medical Council of India (MCI) to encash a bank guarantee of Rs two crore from it.

According to the FIR, the Yadavs had got in touch with Quddusi and Bhawana Pandey through one Sudhir Giri of Meerut-based Venkateshwar Medical College for "getting the matter settleed".

Quddusi and Pandey assured the Yadavs that they will "get the matter settled in the apex court through their contacts" and engaged Biswanath Agrawala for the job, the FIR claimed. Agrawala claimed that he has very close contact with "senior relevant public functionaries" and that he would get the matter "favourably settled".

"However, he demanded huge gratification for inducing public servants by corrupt and illegal means in lieu of the aforesaid help," the FIR said adding the investigations also received information that the Yadavs, Quddusi, Pandey and Giri were likely to meet Agrawala for handing over money in Delhi shortly.

On the advice of Quddusi, it claimed, the college's petition in Supreme Court challenging the debarment was withdrawn on August 25 and a new petition was filed in Allahabad High Court.

The High Court directed that the college should not be de-listed from the list notified for counselling till August 31 besides staying the encashment of bank guarantee. However, it said the petitioners would not have right to claim any admission of students.

Following this, the MCI approached the Supreme Court but it was disposed off as the college submitted that it was not claiming any benefit from the order passed by the High Court. The FIR said as the current order was passed by the apex court, the petition filed in the High Court was deemed to have been disposed of and the college was granted liberty to approach the Supreme Court.