The Enforcement Directorate registered a case of money laundering against former Orissa High Court judge IM Quddusi and five others, The Indian Express reported on Friday.
Quddusi is accused of corruption after he allegedly helped a medical college in Lucknow, which was barred by the Medical Council of India, settle the matter in the Supreme Court. He and the other five accused were arrested on September 20.
The ED said its case is based on the First Information Report filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation. The report quoted sources from the investigating agency saying Quddusi and his associates demanded Rs 3 crore from the medical college, Prasad Institute of Medical Sciences, to get a favourable judicial order.
“It was their going rate,” an official told The Indian Express. “They have similarly taken money from other people to get favourable orders in courts. How this was being done is a matter of investigation,” the official said.
All six accused are out on bail.
The case
The Prasad Institute of Medical Sciences was one of 46 colleges barred by the government from admitting medical students till 2019 because of substandard facilities and not fulfilling other criteria. BP Yadav and Palash Yadav, who manage the trust that runs the college, then “entered into criminal conspiracy” with Quddusi and the others to settle the matter, the CBI’s First Information Report said.
Before Quddusi was arrested September, the CBI carried out raids in Delhi, Bhubaneswar and Lucknow. The CBI team initially went to the house of sitting Orissa High Court Justice CR Dash instead of Quddusi’s, causing an uproar.
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