Madhya Pradesh High Court Seeks Action Report From CBI, Nursing Councils In Nursing Scam Case

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Madhya Pradesh High Court, principal bench of Jabalpur, on Tuesday ordered the CBI and theMP Nursing Councilto file a detailed action taken report against those involved in nursing fraud. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for May 12.

Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf ordered the CBI, the Indian Nursing Council, and the Madhya Pradesh Nursing Council to submit detailed affidavits and progress reports prior to the next hearing.

The court directed the CBI to clarify exactly which individuals or institutions have been found to be involved in the investigation conducted thus far. Furthermore, the CBI is required to specify what punitive actions have been initiated against the suspects to date.

The Indian Nursing Council and the Madhya Pradesh Nursing Council have been specifically asked to provide information regarding the steps taken against those officials responsible for periodically granting recognition to unsuitable and substandard colleges. The concerned respondents are required to file a detailed affidavit outlining the administrative and legal actions initiated against the officials who allowed these colleges to flourish illegally.

A PIL filed by Law Students Association president Vishal Baghel challenged the recognition process of fraudulent nursing colleges established in the state during the 2020-21 academic year. Following the court s strict intervention, the subsequent CBI investigation revealed that out of approximately 800 nursing colleges, nearly 600 were unsuitable or riddled with deficiencies. These institutions suffered from a severe lack of mandatory facilities such as proper buildings, laboratories, libraries, experienced faculty, and 100-bed hospitals.

Many colleges were operating merely on paper, while numerous principals and teachers were shown to be simultaneously employed across as many as 15 different colleges. In this matter, the petitioner association filed an application alleging that the MP Nursing Council, instead of transferring the students of the 117 nursing colleges deemed ineligible during the CBI inquiry to suitable institutions, is conducting final-year examinations for these very colleges, which are merely paper colleges or substandard institutions that jeopardise the students future.