CBI Arrests Former Orissa HC Judge I.M. Quddusi And Four Others In Medical College Bribery Case

After registering an FIR against former Judge of Orissa High Court, Justice I.M. Quddusi and others in a corruption case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has now arrested him and other four accused in the case.

The other accused arrested are B P Yadav and Palash Yadav of the Prasad Educational Trust which runs a medical college in Lucknow, Biswanath Agrawala, a middleman, and hawala operator Ramdev Saraswat. The arrested persons will be produced in Court Today.

As per the FIR, Mr. Quddusi allegedly conspired with one Ms. Bhawana Pandey to “settle” the matter concerning debarment of Prasad Institute of Medical Science, Lucknow, which is one of the 46 colleges barred by the Government. These colleges have been prohibited from admitting medical students for the forthcoming 1 or 2 years because of substandard facilities and non-fulfillment of requisite criteria.

The FIR reveals that Mr. B.P. Yadav, who manages affairs of the medical institute, got in touch with Mr. Quddusi and Ms. Pandey and “entered into criminal conspiracy for getting the matter settled”.

Mr. Quddusi had allegedly advised Mr. Yadav to withdraw his challenge to the debarment from the Apex Court and approach the Allahabad High Court instead. The High Court had then granted an interim stay against the debarment.

While the Medical Council of India has approached the Supreme Court against this order, Mr. Quddusi and Ms. Pandey have allegedly assured Mr. Yadav that they will “get the matter settled in the Apex Court through their contacts”.

They have also allegedly engaged one Mr. Biswanath Agrawala, who claims “very close contact with senior relevant public functionaries” and has assured that he would get the matter “favorably settled”. The FIR claims that Mr. Agrawala has demanded a huge gratification in lieu of this and that the conspirers will soon be meeting at Delhi to deliver the amount.

A case has, therefore, been registered against Mr. Quddusi, Ms. Pandey, Yadav and Mr. Agrawala. Offences have also been registered against Mr. Palash Yadav, who manages the affairs of the medical institute along with Mr. B.P. Yadav, and Mr. Sudhir Giri, who supposedly facilitated the meet between the conspirers. Mr. Giri is the founder of the Venkateshwara Group of Institutions.