Supreme Court Stays High Court Order Against Congress MLA Arif Masood In Forgery Probe

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Supreme Court on Friday stayed a Madhya Pradesh High Court order that had directed registration of an FIR and formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) against Congress MLA Arif Masood in a forgery case related to Indira Priyadarshani College, Bhopal.

A bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi issued notice on a special leave petition (SLP) filed by the college and stayed the High Court’s August 18 order until further consideration.

Masood is secretary of Aman society, which runs the college. Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Vivek Tankha appeared on his behalf during the SC hearing.

The controversy pertains to solvency certificates submitted by the college in 2004–2005 for securing recognition.

The High Court had ordered registration of an FIR and an SIT probe into alleged forged certificates, even though it had already stayed the state government’s June 9 order de-recognising the institution.

During the SC hearing, the college argued that the High Court exceeded the scope of the original writ petition, as neither an FIR nor an SIT was sought by any party.

It said solvency records cited in the allegations had already been destroyed as per official retention policy, making any criminal probe ineffective.