Delhi Court Grants Bail To Retd. Orissa HC Judge I.M. Quddusi In Medical College Bribery Case

A Delhi Court has reportedly granted bail to former Judge of Orissa High Court, Justice I.M. Quddusi in a corruption case.

Mr. Quddusi was granted bail by Special Judge Manoj Jain on a personal bond of Rs. 1 lakh and a surety of a like amount. Another accused, Mr. Bhawna Pandey has also been granted interim bail for one week. The Bail pleas of Mr. B.P. Yadav and Mr. Palash Yadav, who manage the affairs of Prasad Institute of Medical Science, have, however, been keep pending. These will be decided on 6 October.

The arrests were made in furtherance of an FIR according to which Mr. Quddusi allegedly conspired with Ms. 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 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.