Medical Admission Scam: SC Dismisses CJAR’s Review Petition [Read Order]

The Supreme Court has dismissed a review petition filed by the Centre For Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR) against the dismissal of a plea for a probe by the Special Investigation Team into medical admission scam.

A bench of Justice Arun Mishra, Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice Ashok Bhushan observed that there is no merit in the review petition and dismissed it.

This would mean that the cost of Rs. 25 lakhs imposed on CJAR while dismissing the original plea seeking SIT probe stands and will have to be paid by it.

A three-judge bench headed by Justice RK Agrawal had dismissed the writ petition filed by CJAR observing that it not only wholly frivolous, but contemptuous, unwarranted, aims at scandalizing the highest judicial system of the country, without any reasonable basis and filed in an irresponsible manner, that too by a body of persons professing to espouse the cause of accountability.

While imposing the costs, the bench had said: “What an irony of fate, the petitioner has itself forgotten its accountability and filing of such petition may entail in ultimate debarment of such petitioners from filing so-called public interest litigation which in fact has caused more injury to cause of public than subserving it.”

The NGO had then filed review petition contending that the judgment “contains several errors apparent on the face of the record leading to a grave miscarriage of justice”.

It also submitted in the review plea: “However, the nature of allegations in the FIR is such that the investigation by the CBI would have involved the judges hearing the said medical college matter at some stage even at least to verify as to whether the judges’ names were just being used by the accused only to make money for themselves. Therefore, the error has crept in when this Hon’ble Court said that there was no possibility of compromising the judicial independence as there was no investigation against the sitting judges of this court.”