PG Medical Admissions Scam: HC confirms order of CB CID Enquiry against former DME secretary

Chennai: While considering the plea by former secretary of Tamil Nadu Selection Committee of DME, Dr G. Selvarajan, the Division bench of Madras High Court on Monday confirmed the single judge order of CB-CID enquiry in the matter concerning alleged scam in PG medical admission.

This comes after previously while considering the scam, where merit had been ignored while admitting students in 90 PG medical seats in 13 private medical colleges of the State, the Madras HC bench had directed the authorities for registering FIRs against the officials involved, to stop pension benefits of the former secretary, and also pay a compensation of Rs 4 Lakh to each of the two candidates who lost the chance to get admitted in their preferred PG courses due to the unethical admission process.

Now, the division bench of Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice N Mala clarified that the proceedings against the former secretary Dr. Selvarajan could continue. However, it said that it could only interfere regarding the stoppage of the pensionary benefits subject to the outcome of the probe.

Also Read: PG Medical Seats scam: HC orders FIR, directs Rs 8 lakh compensation to 2 meritorious candidates

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported about the matter where the Madras High Court had ordered a CB-CID inquiry to probe the PG medical admission scam in 13 private medical colleges of the State. The inquiry revealed that the former Tamil Nadu Secretary, Selection Committee, Directorate of Medical Education was involved in illegally permitting those medical colleges for filling up 90 PG medical seats without caring for the merit criteria for 2020-2021.

The list of private medical institutes which were alleged to be involved in the scam includes PSG Institute of Medical Science and Research, Coimbatore, and Karpaga Vinayakka Medical College, Chengalpet.

The matter concerns three different petitions filed by M Keethanjali, M S Santhosh, and Santhosh Kumar, all of whom are seeking instruction from the authorities to fill PG medical seats that have been declared vacant as per the selection committee's seat matrix dated August 17, 2020. In their petition, the petitioners sought admission of eligible candidates only by conducting mop up counselling for management seats and by considering their NEET-PG rank.

On October 28, 2020, Justice N. Anand Venkatesh suspected flouting of norms in the admission process and ordered a CB-CID investigation into the matter. Following that, the police officials proceeded to file periodic status reports on the investigation's progress. Dr Selvarajan was named Secretary of the Selection Committee on March 4, 2016 and was set to retire on July 31, 2019, according to the investigation reports. He was re-employed in the same position for 19 months, from July 31, 2019 to February 26, 2021, and had served without legitimate orders from January 1 to February 26, 2021.

However, the CB-CID inquiry revealed that despite the fact that two merit lists were posted on the selection committee's website, they did not include the contact information for the candidates on the list, which allowed private colleges to make their own admissions on August 31, 2020 under the guise that the seats would otherwise be wasted.

The Selection Committee did not verify their rank in the merit list when issuing provisional allotment orders to 90 candidates admitted by the 13 colleges on their own later, despite having the power to withhold provisional allotment orders to undeserving candidates, stated the inquiry reports.

Taking note of this, the Madras HC bench had ordered to register FIRs against the officials involved and private colleges concerned. The court had also ordered the state not to pay pension benefits to him and to pay a compensation of Rs 4 Lakh to each of the two candidates who lost the chance to get admitted in their preferred PG courses due to the unethical admission process. The single judge had also directed to recover this amount from the retirement benefits of the former secretary of the Selection Committee. Besides, the court had also denied retirement benefits to the doctor.

If this Court does not step in to take action in accordance with law, the faith that has been reposed on this Court by the public would have a whirlwind downfall. Therefore, on a consideration of the entire materials placed before this Court in the form of enquiry reports and material documents, it clearly transpires that the then Secretary, Selection Committee, Directorate of Medical Education, has not only been instrumental in depriving the meritorious candidates of their rightful seats under the management quota in the private medical colleges, which are under the scanner of the enquiry officer, by not following the mandate of the Medical Council of India and the orders of the Hon'ble Supreme Court, but even on a holistic consideration of the case, this Court is of the view that the nexus does not start or end with him," Justice M Dhandapani had mentioned in the order.

"The tentacles of illegality are cast far and wide as the perpetrator of the crime could not be an isolated individual in the form of the then Secretary, but the said officer would definitely had been aided by other persons in stage-managing the aforesaid act, which has deprived the meritorious candidates of their right to seats of their choice under the management quota, reports PTI. The amount of Rs 8 lakh shall be initially paid by the government within four weeks to the two petitioners and later recovered from the retirement benefits of the doctor," the judge had added.

However, challenging the single judge order dated February 25, the former secretary of the Selection Committee Dr. G Selvarajan approached the High Court.

Previously, while considering the matter, the HC division bench comprising of Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy had sought to know from the State why a CBI inquiry should not be initiated in the matter.

The bench had also directed the Government pleader to inform what action has been initiated against the appellant pursuant to the order of the single judge

As per the latest media report by Live Law, the Madras HC division bench comprising of the Chief Justice has now confirmed the single-judge order for CB-CID inquiry and observed that the proceedings against Dr. Selvarajan could continue.

The court has also clarified that it could only interfere in respect to the stoppage of pensionary benefits to the doctor depending on the outcome of the enquiry proceedings.

Also Read: Why CBI probe should not be conducted on PG Medical Seats Scam: Madras HC asks state