HC Dismisses corruption proceedings against Devaraj Urs Educational Trust accused of bribing MCI Inspection Committee
Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has recently dropped the charges of bribery and the corruption proceedings initiated against Devaraj Urs Educational Trust which had previously been accused of bribing the members of the Medical Council of India inspection committee for increasing medical seats in the medical college run by the Trust.
Such a decision was taken by the HC bench of Justice M. Nagaprasanna as it noted that already the High Court had quashed the proceedings against two professors, who were part of the MCI Inspection committee and had been named accused in the FIR. Those professors were employed in medical colleges based in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.
Therefore, opining that continuing criminal proceedings against the trust and its secretary would be futile, the HC bench quashed the corruption proceedings.
Back in 2017, CBI had registered the First Information Report (FIR) against five individuals and the trust. The FIR had been registered on the basis of the inputs from Income Tax (I-T) Department, which had alleged that the trust had bribed public servants and the members of the inspection panel.
The two professors who had been named in the FIR were Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (OBG) at Dr Shankar Rao Chawan Medical College and an MCI Assessor, Dr Wakode. They had inspected Shri Devaraj Urs Medical College for seat enhancement for the MD (OBG) course.
Medical Dialogues had reported back in 2017 that the FIR filed by the Anti Corruption Bureau of the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI), had alleged that Dr Wakode and two others had entered into a criminal conspiracy with Secretary, G H Nagaraja and Chairman of the Shri Devaraj Urs Educational Trust for Backward Classes in Kolar, R L Jalappa.
It had further stated that Dr. Wakode and the other two had accepted cash and gifts from the Trust, for recommending a seat increase in different courses of study, at the Shri Devaraj Urs Medical College, during the period- 2012-2015.
After conducting raid in the premises of the trust and the medical college, the IT Department had also said that it had found certain notes written on notepads indicating cash and gifts had been given to the MCI Committee. Apart from the professors, the founder of the Trust and the former Union Minister R.L. Jalappa, who passed away in December 2021, had also named accused in the FIR.
As per the latest media report by The Hindu, back in January 2019, CBI had filed a “B” report and stated that there is no evidence for establishing the allegations brought against any of the accused. However, the Special Court for CBI had rejected the "B" report in July 2019 and had directed the CBI for conducting further investigation.
Thereafter in March 2021, CBI had filed another "B" report stating the same thing. Again the Special Court rejected the second "B" report and took cognizance of the offence against all the accused under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and the Indian Penal Code.
Meanwhile, the High Court had quashed the proceedings against the two accused professors who were part of the MCI Inspection Committee. Taking note of this, now the Karnataka HC has dropped the corruption charges against the Trust as well.
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