CBI Arrests Retired Orissa HC Judge IM Quddusi in Medical Scam Case

New Delhi: The CBI has arrested retired Orissa High Court judge Ishrat Masroor Quddusi and four others in connection with a bribery case.

Quddusi has been named as accused number one in the FIR filed over allegations of bribery to settle a medical college recognition case in the Supreme Court.

CBI sources said the arrests were made on Wednesday night after a detailed search operation at eight locations, including the residence of Justice (retired) Quddusi in Greater Kailash, Delhi.

The others arrested in the case were BP 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.

BP Yadav and Palash Yadav are part of the Prasad Education Trust of Lucknow which runs the Prasad Institute of Medical Science.

This college is one of the 46 colleges barred by the government from admitting medical students for the next one or two years because of substandard facilities, according to the FIR.

They had challenged the debarment in the apex court. The court had directed the government to consider the materials on record afresh.

The government, after due diligence and after hearing the perspective of the college, debarred the college from admitting fresh students for two years from 2017. It also authorised MCI to encash the bank guarantee of Rs 2 crore.

Amid the series of petitions in Supreme Court and Allahabad High Court, the Yadav duo got in touch with retired Justice Quddusi.

As per the FIR, Justice Quddusi and his confidant Bhawana Pandey assured them that the matter would be settled in the apex court.

However, in return, as per the CBI, "he demanded the gratification for inducing the public servants by corrupt and illegal means in lieu of the aforesaid help."

CBI, then, received information that this set of people was likely to meet a hawala operator Biswanath Agarwal who had allegedly agreed to deliver the cash.

In subsequent raids at eight places, the CBI recovered close to Rs 2 crore in cash and several incriminating documents. The agency had seized Rs 1 crore which the hawala operator had handed over to an aide of the retired justice.

This case has once again brought to the fore the issue of judicial corruption and the FIR against a former judge, who promised to get a favourable verdict, has exposed what was only spoken about in the corridors of the various courtrooms across the country.