Delhi court summons former High Court judge Quddusi in graft case

A Delhi court on Tuesday summoned former Orissa High Court judge Justice (retd) I M Quddusi and others accused of trying to influence the verdict in a case heard by the Supreme Court by manipulating several "high-level functionaries".

After taking cognisance of a charge sheet filed against them, Special Judge Anil Kumar Sisodia directed Quddusi and six others to appear before the court on January 9, 2020.

Besides Quddusi, the court also summoned B P Yadav and Palash Yadav of Prasad Educational Trust which runs a medical college in Lucknow, alleged middleman Biswanath Agrawala, alleged hawala operator Ramdev Saraswat, Bhavna Pandey and Sudhir Giri as accused in the case.

"From the perusal of the charge sheet, statements of the witnesses and the documents filed along with charge sheet, I am of the considered opinion that there is sufficient material to take cognisance of the offence. Accordingly, I take cognisance of the offence... Summons be issued to Accused-1 to Accused-7 for the next date of hearing," the judge said, while directing them to appear on January 9.

The CBI has accused all seven of criminal conspiracy and corruption.

The agency has alleged that B P Yadav had approached the Supreme Court and the Allahabad High Court after his college Prasad Institute of Medical Sciences was barred by the government from admitting students for 2017-18 and 2018-19.

The case was being heard in the Supreme Court when Yadav allegedly approached Quddusi and Pandey to "get the matter settled" by manipulating "high-level functionaries", the CBI said.

Bhubaneswar-based Agrawala claimed to get the matter settled in their favour by using his close links with senior public functionaries, it said.

The CBI had seized Rs one crore from Agrawala, sources said, adding that the money was delivered to him through Saraswat. Rs 91.90 lakh was seized during searches on the premises of the other accused.