KOCHI: Having completed the probe into the multi-crore nursing recruitment scam, CBI is awaiting a nod from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to prosecute the Protector of Emigrants (PoE) in Cochin, who is accused in four cases related to the scam. CBI had requested the MEA to issue prosecution sanction against PoE L Adolphus in March 2016 for filing a chargesheet against him, said a CBI officer, preferring anonymity.
“The MEA is yet to take a call on the request even after 10 months. The procedure normally takes two-three months. Investigations are almost complete,” said the officer. Owing to the delay, CBI chargesheeted Adolphus in one of the related cases in December, 2016, without prosecution sanction against him.
CBI had registered four cases related to the scam in 2015, following revelations that recruitment agencies charged Rs 19.5 lakhs, instead of Rs 19,500, as service charge from nurses recruited to Ministry of Health, Kuwait. Though informed about the irregularity, Adolphus did not take any action. He was arraigned as an accused in the four cases and arrested.
The recent chargesheet was filed against Adolphus and JK International Manpower Consultants, one of the agencies that committed the irregularity. CBI submitted a petition in the CBI Court stating that they had approached the Ministry concerned for prosecution sanction against Adolphus, but it had not been issued.