Supreme Court suspends CBI probe into Ayush admission scam in UP

The Supreme Court on Monday suspended the Allahabad High Court's order for CBI probe into allegations of kickbacks against former Uttar Pradesh Ayush minister Dharam Singh Saini, then additional chief secretary of the Ayush department, Prashant Trivedi, and others in connection with alleged malpractices in the admission to undergraduate and post graduate courses in 2019.

A vacation bench of Justices Dipankar Dutta and Manoj Misra stayed the Lucknow bench order after a brief submission by Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj for the Uttar Pradesh government.

The state counsel submitted that the High Court could not have ordered the CBI probe in a case related to anticipatory bail.

The bench, however, wondered why the state government should shy away from CBI probe into the scam after a hearing on the same.

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The counsel said the High Court could not have used its inherent power to direct the CBI investigation.

The court then decided to examine the matter. It issued a notice to respondent Dr Ritu Garg and stayed the HC order.

In May, a single-judge bench of Justice Rajeev Singh allowed bail plea to Dr Garg. It, however, directed the CBI to register a case and submit a status report by August 1 after its probe.

The bench had then said that the court cannot shut its eyes after noting wrongdoings by the authorities for admission in undergraduate and post-graduate courses and that too, in the name of compliance of an order of the apex court, depriving the eligible students. It also noted grave lapses on the part of the investigating agency, saying this may have fatal consequences for the justice delivery system.

The court had relied upon a statement by Dr Umakant Singh, the officer in-charge, Ayurveda Directorate, who told the police how kickbacks were paid among the former minister, senior IAS officer Trivedi and other key officials of the Ayush department.

In her plea, Dr Garg had claimed she was falsely implicated in connection with the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) 2021-22 fake admissions case.

The court had then found that the investigating officer had recorded the statement of Singh, who had categorically stated how corruption was carried out in the 2019 admissions and that Saini had taken Rs 35 lakh at his residence, while Trivedi had taken Rs 25 lakh.