ED may book Allahabad HC judge

New Delhi: The noose seems to be tightening around Allahabad high court Justice S.N. Shukla as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is preparing to book him in connection with a corruption case for allegedly favouring a private medical college in 2017. Sources said, “The ED will initiate its probe under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after fulfilling all legal formalities. The ED’s case under PMLA will be registered based on CBI’s FIR into the matter”. The CBI on Friday booked Justice Shukla in connection with the case.

Along with Justice Shukla of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, CBI also named IM Quddusi, a retired judge of the Chhattisgarh High Court, Bhagwan Prasad Yadav and Palash Yadav of the Prasad Education Trust (Kanpur), the trust and private persons Bhavna Pandey and Sudhir Giri in the case. The CBI sleuths had also conducted searches at multiple locations in Lucknow, Meerut and Delhi in connection with the case.

There are allegations that the Prasad Institute of Medical Sciences (Kanpur) was debarred by the Centre from admitting students due to sub-standard facilities and non-fulfilment of criteria in May 2017, along with 46 other medical colleges, which were also debarred on similar grounds, sources said.

The decision to debar was challenged by the trust before the Supreme Court through a writ petition, they added. “Subsequently a conspiracy was allegedly hatched by those named in the FIR and the petition withdrawn with the court’s permission. Another writ petition was filed before the Lucknow bench of the high court on August 24, 2017”, sources said. It was further alleged in the FIR that the petition was heard on August 25, 2017 by a division bench of the court comprising Justice Shukla and a favourable order was passed the same day, they added. In order to get a favourable order, an illegal gratification was allegedly paid to one of the accused named in the FIR by the trust, sources claimed.