How CBI nabbed ex-HC judge in alleged medical seat scam

New Delhi: The CBI on Thursday arrested former Odisha judge Ishrat Masroor Quddusi along with five others in connection with an alleged corruption case involving a Lucknow-based medical college.

The Prasad Institute of Medical Sciences, which was reportedly put on a blacklist by the government due to poor infrastructure, was trying to seek some relief from courts. Enabling the colleges to admit students to courses despite a Supreme Court order barring admission, the accused tried to help the college in regaining its previous status against huge pay offs. 

Quddusi along with his close aide Bhawna Pandey, middleman Vishwanath Agarwal, hawala operator Ram Dev Saraswat and owners of private medical college BP Yadav and Palash Yadav were produced before a city court which sent them to four-day CBI custody.

While conducting the raids, the CBI got hold of suspicious documents that revealed the ex-judge's engagement in deals to obtain favourable court orders.

In 2014, a video purportedly showcasing Justice (retired) Quddusi and Pandey in talks with someone to "fix a deal" appeared on social networking sites but the matter died down.

Special Judge Manoj Jain sent Quddusi and others to custody after the central probe agency said their custodial interrogation was required to unearth the "larger nexus" in the alleged medical college scam issue.

The CBI has charged Quddusi with acting as a conduit between the authorities of the private colleges and MCI officials. He used to fix deals that would ensure MCI recognition to colleges which were struggling to get it.

Quddusi and Pandey had assured Prasad Education Trust that they would get the matter – a reverse on an order barring a medical college from admitting students due to substandard facilities and non-fulfillment of required criteria — settled in the Supreme Court through their contacts.

According to the CBI FIR, the Prasad Institute of Medical Science was among the 46 medical institutes that were barred by the government from admitting new students because of shortcomings in Infrastructure.

The ex-judge first hit headlines when, as a judge of Allahabad High Court, he held court at New Delhi railway station in 2000. A deputy railway station master had denied him a reserved AC berth. He also asked a railway official to stop the train and when the official refused, Quddusi charged him with "contempt of court".

He demanded Sharma touch his feet and seek pardon. Left with no option, Sharma did so. A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition was filed in Supreme Court seeking an inquiry into the incident, however, it was later withdrawn. Retired Justice Quddusi had earlier, also served High Courts of Orissa and Chhattisgarh.