J-K court denies bail to man accused of duping MBBS aspirants

SRINAGAR: A court here has rejected the bail application of a man accused of duping MBBS aspirants of lakhs of rupees on the pretext of arranging medical seats for them in private colleges over the past 15 years. Chief Judicial Magistrate Raja Mohammad Tasleem rejected the bail plea of Uttar Pradesh resident Sheel Kumar Shukla, saying the petition was devoid of merit.

Shukla was arrested from Ghaziabad on October 11 after a long hunt. "I am of the considered opinion that the accused is not entitled to the concession of bail at this stage. Hence, the application at this stage seems to be devoid of any merit which deserves to be rejected," the judge said in his eight-page order.

Shukla was wanted in a case registered at the Budgam police station on July 8, 2007 following a complaint by Javeed Ahmad Shah of Anantnag district's Mattan. Shah alleged that Ajay Jaiswal, who was running a branch of V V C Academy-New Delhi at Jawahar Nagar, Srinagar, had promised to get his daughter admitted to a medical college in Gwalior in return of Rs 10 lakh.

The complainant said he sold his land and paid Jaiswal Rs 3 lakh in cash on September 26, 2007 and another installment of Rs 5 lakh through cheque but neither his daughter got admission to MBBS nor was the money returned to him. As part of investigation in the case, Jaiswal was arrested on December 8, 2007. He revealed he was just an agent of the academy, and Shukla, as its chairman, was sending people to him and taking money.

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"During the course of the investigation, the statement of some witnesses have been recorded wherein it is established that both the accused persons were deceitfully trapping the people with a well-planned conspiracy while telling them to provide admission for their children and were demanding hefty and handsome amounts," the order read, quoting the police.

The police investigations revealed that Shukla had opened a college called 'Wisdom Institute of Special Studies' at Ghaziabad after changing the name of V V C Academy, and accordingly, a warrant was obtained from the court and the accused was arrested. It is evident that there is a close nexus between the accused persons and after bail was granted to Jaiswal, he never appeared before the court and no effective proceeding could be conducted, the order said.

"... In case the discretion of bail is exercised in favour of the accused No 2 (Shukla), there is every apprehension he will also flee from the clutches of justice which would definitely create hurdles in deciding the matter on its own merit," the judge said in his order.

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During the course of arguments, a protest petition was presented by another victim Mir Naveed Gul of Tral-Payeen in Pulwama district, who also claimed to have been duped by the accused. Gul sought dismissal of the bail application of Shukla, pleading that he was duped of Rs 13 lakhs by the accused in collaboration with his two associates. The applicant said the accused not only deceived him by showing forged documents and letters from various universities but also destroyed his career and that of his friend Zuhaib Rasool and several other students in the Valley.