Sardar Rajas Cheating Case: SC Grants Interim Bail To Prime Accused

Bhubaneswar: The Supreme Court has granted interim bail to A Johnsel Raja, who was the managing trustee of Selvam Educational and Charitable Trust that ran Sardar Rajas Medical College and Hospital in Kalahandi district.

Accused of fraud, he got the breather on Friday on health grounds in lieu of two bail bonds of Rs 5 lakh each.

Johnsel had allegedly cheated medical aspirants to the tune of Rs 10 crore in the guise of giving admission to the medical college though it had lost recognition of the Medical Council of India (MCI). He was apprehended at Nagarcoil in Tamil Nadu, by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on July 26 and brought to Odisha on August 3.

Johnsel was produced in JMFC at Junagarh, where his bail plea was rejected and he was sent to Dharmagarh sub-jail. He moved the apex court for bail after the additional district sessions judge also rejected his bail petition.

The state government had reportedly allotted 25 acre free of cost and Rs 20 crore for the 300-bed hospital along with college at Jaring, Kalahandi. However, the trust established the college only in 2013–2014 and admitted 100 students and 24 students the next year.

Also Read: Sardar Rajas Cheating Case: Prime Accused Brought To Odisha From Tamil Nadu

Johnsel had allegedly used forged and fabricated documents to obtain necessary clearances from the MCI. As the college didn’t have the necessary infrastructure, the MCI withdrew their permission for admitting students for 2015-2016.

However, he went head and collected huge amount from students as capitation fee.

In September 2015, the Odisha government had lodged an FIR against Johnsel accusing him of violating the MoU, fraudulent documentation and playing with the future of hundreds of medical students. Earlier, the government had even issued show-cause notice to it, but he allegedly did not reply.