NEW DELHI: The CBI raid on the premises of former President of Dental Council of India (DCI), Dr Anil Kohli on Friday has opened a can of worms. Several irregularities committed in granting recognization to a number of private dental colleges spread across the country have come to light.
Allegations against Dr Kohli is similar to those against Dr Ketan Desai, the
former President of Medical Council of India (MCI), who was arrested by the CBI last year on charges of committing irregularities in awarding recognization to private medical colleges in exchange for huge financial benefits to himself.
Dr Kohli had spent long years in the DCI. First as an executive committee member from 2001 to 2004 and then as a president from 2004-5 to 2009-10. According to the DCI’s official website, there are 229 recognised medical colleges, and 71 colleges have been permitted under the Indian Medical Council Act,1956 during the period of 2009-10. Majority of these colleges are privately-owned.
Interestingly, this same Dr Kohli has been much decorated by the Government of India. He has been conferred the Padma award twice, for exceptional’ and distinguished services’. He got his ‘Padma Shree’ in 1992 and later in 2005,the ‘Padma Bhushan’. He was also given a honorary rank of Brigadier in the Army Dental Corps by the Chief of the Army Staff on behalf of the President of India.
The agency registered a case of DA (disproportionate assets) against Kohli
for misusing his official position to earn illegal wealth on Thursday.
Searches were conducted on Friday at six places in New Delhi.During the searches, it was found that the accused has made huge investments in properties which include a palatial house at Gulmohar Park, an upmarket residential colony in South Delhi; four shops at Lajpat Nagar market and a farmhouse near Najafgar in the outskrits of Delhi. Investigation had revealed that his modus operandi was to first charge money to award affiliations to private colleges and then also charge them annually for fixing quotas on the number of students that each college couldadmit, depending on the faculty and infrastructure facilities available.The scrutiny of his bank accounts have revealed unexplained deposits of rupees five crore in five years during his president-ship.