Censorship – Publications

A Delhi court on Saturday restrained the media from publishing any news on the First Information Report the Central Bureau of Investigation filed against former Odisha High Court judge IM Quddusi in connection with a medical college scam. However, media houses can report on court proceedings related to the FIR, judge Twinkle Wadhwa said according to Livelaw.

The court said the order would be in place till the police complete the investigation or till further orders are passed, whichever is earlier. The scam involves a medical college run by Prasad Education Trust in Lucknow. The Medical Council of India had denied the trust permission to operate the college, but a middleman allegedly assured the trust that the judiciary would allow it to run the institute. The trust then allegedly paid the middleman to facilitate this.

The court was hearing a petition filed by Qudussi. In his plea, Qudussi referred to articles published by The Wire, The Times of India and ABP News in January. The articles said transcripts of purported conversations between three accused – Qudussi, middleman Vishwanath Agarwala and BP Yadav of the Prasad Education Trust – revealed that college officials had planned to bribe senior functionaries of the Supreme Court and the Allahabad High Court for a favourable judgement.