BENGALURU: The CBI Special Court granted anticipatory bail to Dr S R Wakode, a professor of a medical college in Nanded, Maharashtra, in a case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for allegedly taking bribe for recommending the Medical Council of India (MCI) for enhancement of medical seats in Shri Devaraj Urs Medical College, Kolar.
Dr Wakode, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (OBG) at Dr Shankar Rao Chawan Medical College and an MCI Assessor, conducted inspection of Shri Devaraj Urs Medical College for increasing the seats for the MD (OBG) course.
According to the FIR filed by Anti Corruption Bureau of CBI, Dr Wakode and two others entered into a criminal conspiracy with Secretary G H Nagaraja and Chairman of the Shri Devaraj Urs Educational Trust for Backward Classes in Kolar R L Jalappa. He accepted illegal consideration in the form of cash and gifts from the Trust for enhancing the number of seats of various courses offered by the Shri Devaraj Urs Medical College during the period 2012-2015.
In its objections to the bail plea, the CBI stated that Unit-I of the officers of DGIT (Investigation), Bengaluru on August 8, 2015 conducted a search under Section 132 of the Income Tax Act at the premises of the Trust and seized several incriminating documents including two notepads titled ‘Mayur Products’ and ‘Akshara Products’. The scrutiny of the notepads revealed that huge amount in cash and gift articles have been paid by Trust to the MCI inspectors.
The investigation revealed that Goli Srinivas, Accountant of the College, had maintained details of such payments in notepads in his handwriting, as instructed by G H Nagaraja and R L Jalappa. It is gathered that the college was found lacking infrastructure such as availability of adequate land and building, teaching faculty and equipment to fulfil the prescribed MCI norms for enhancement of seats and courses.
The CBI Special Court judge Sadashiva S Sultanpuri granted anticipatory bail to Dr Wakode, imposing certain conditions.
Where, when and how much paid? as claimed by CBI:
D5 lakh paid to Dr Ajai Kumar, the then MCI Assessor, for increase of seats in MD (Anesthesiology Course) on May 10, 2013 at Capital Hotel in Bengaluru, where he was stayed.
D10 lakh paid to Dr G Narendranath Reddy for increasing the seats in MS (Opthalmology course) on November 20, 2013.
Dr S R Wakode conducted the inspection for increasing the seats for the MD (OBG) course on November 28, 2013. The accountant and clerk of the college had met Dr Wakode at Secunderabad Railway Station on November 30, 2013 and allegedly handed over an amount of D10 lakh.