The CBI on Friday closed the disproportionate assets case against former Medical Council of India (MCI) chairman Ketan Desai and his family, saying it did not have enough evidence to prosecute them.
This is the second high-profile case the CBI has closed in recent days, the first one being the disproportionate assets case against former Dental Council of India chief Anil Kohli.
The CBI raided Desai in April 2010 and allegedly caught him taking a Rs 2-crore bribe to grant recognition to a private medical college in Punjab. Desai’s arrest, along with that of J P Singh and Kanwaljit Singh of the medical college, and the subsequent probe highlighted deep-rooted corruption in MCI. The CBI received as many as 160 complaints of alleged violations by medical colleges that were overlooked by MCI.
The CBI then probed about two dozen colleges across India and chargesheeted former health minister Anbumani Ramadoss for granting illegal favours to a college in Indore.
In its closure report, filed in a Delhi court, the CBI claimed there was “insufficient evidence” to prosecute Desai, his wife and mother as it had not been able to link his assets to unknown sources of income.
The CBI had booked Desai after allegedly finding “illegal assets” worth Rs 24 crore during raids at his properties in Delhi and Ahmedabad.
The agency claimed Desai and his family had Rs 1.8 crore in bank deposits and owned several properties in Mumbai and Gujarat, five vehicles and gold and diamonds worth Rs 38 lakh.
The CBI then summoned Desai to explain the sources of income and assets owned by him and his family. But after a two-year-long probe, the agency concluded that “the allegations could not be substantiated”.
