LUCKNOW: The Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court has directed the CBI to register a case and investigate the allegations of malpractices in the admission process for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the Ayush department in 2019.
Allowing the bail plea of Dr Ritu Garg, an accused in the case, Justice Rajeev Singh ordered the CBI director to probe the charges of officer-in-charge, Ayurveda Directorate, Dr Umakant Singh, who gave a detailed statement to the UP Police special task force (STF) about how ‘cuts’ were distributed among the then minister, senior IAS officers and lower level officials.
Since grave allegations had been levelled against senior government officers as well as the (former) minister, “the sanctity of the said statement needs thorough investigation”, the court said.
The HC, in its May 24 order, directed the STF to hand over all the relevant documents, including the case diary, to the CBI director, and sought a status report on August 1.
Dharam Singh Saini, who quit BJP to join SP just before 2022 assembly polls, was the minister while senior IAS officer Prashant Trivedi was the additional chief secretary of the department when the admission scam allegedly took place.
The bench observed that the court could not shut its eyes on “such wrongdoings by the authorities for admission in UG and PG courses, that too in the name of compliance of the Supreme Court order, depriving the eligible students, as also finding grave lapses on part of the investigating agency, which may have fatal consequences on the justice delivery system”.
The state government had already recommended a CBI probe in November 2022, but the central agency was yet to take over the case as the STF was already investigating and had arrested 16 people, including Dr Ritu Garg.
In her bail plea, Garg said she was falsely implicated in connection with the NEET 2021-22 fake admissions case. The HC granted her bail, saying that from the entire case records, there was no evidence indicating her involvement in interpolating the result.
Allowing the bail plea of Dr Ritu Garg, an accused in the case, Justice Rajeev Singh ordered the CBI director to probe the charges of officer-in-charge, Ayurveda Directorate, Dr Umakant Singh, who gave a detailed statement to the UP Police special task force (STF) about how ‘cuts’ were distributed among the then minister, senior IAS officers and lower level officials.
Since grave allegations had been levelled against senior government officers as well as the (former) minister, “the sanctity of the said statement needs thorough investigation”, the court said.
The HC, in its May 24 order, directed the STF to hand over all the relevant documents, including the case diary, to the CBI director, and sought a status report on August 1.
Dharam Singh Saini, who quit BJP to join SP just before 2022 assembly polls, was the minister while senior IAS officer Prashant Trivedi was the additional chief secretary of the department when the admission scam allegedly took place.
The bench observed that the court could not shut its eyes on “such wrongdoings by the authorities for admission in UG and PG courses, that too in the name of compliance of the Supreme Court order, depriving the eligible students, as also finding grave lapses on part of the investigating agency, which may have fatal consequences on the justice delivery system”.
The state government had already recommended a CBI probe in November 2022, but the central agency was yet to take over the case as the STF was already investigating and had arrested 16 people, including Dr Ritu Garg.
In her bail plea, Garg said she was falsely implicated in connection with the NEET 2021-22 fake admissions case. The HC granted her bail, saying that from the entire case records, there was no evidence indicating her involvement in interpolating the result.