- Madhya Pradesh High Court will hold daily hearings on the nursing college fraud from July 3
- The case involves a PIL by Vishal Baghel and is under CBI investigation
- Photos showed fake colleges with changing boards and no infrastructure
Four years after NDTV first exposed a massive fraud in Madhya Pradesh's nursing colleges, the case has taken a critical turn. The Madhya Pradesh High Court will now hold daily hearings in the case starting July 3, underlining the gravity of what the court has called a "sensitive issue in the health sector."
A division bench of Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice DK Paliwal made the decision during a hearing earlier this week. The court is now treating the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Vishal Baghel, as the lead case, which is also under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
"Capital Punishment Should Be Given"
In a dramatic moment during the hearing, Justice Sreedharan was visibly shocked after going through the photos and order sheets, revealing the condition of some nursing colleges. "Oh my god," he exclaimed and asked, "Has the court seen these photos before? What is happening?"
One photograph showed how the same campus had different boards put up - Engineering, BEd, and Nursing College - changed as per convenience. Another revealed colleges that existed only on plastic boards, without any infrastructure.
"There should be capital punishment for people doing this. We forgive them for murders because that's a crime of passion, but these are premeditated offences," Justice Sreedharan said sternly.
The bench expressed deep concern, calling the scam a systemic rot that threatens the future of healthcare in the state.
The court rebuked officials of the Indian Nursing Council and Madhya Pradesh Nursing Council for repeated non-compliance. Despite 48 hearings and 96 exemptions granted to the officials so far, key records have still not been submitted.
The bench observed that this kind of deliberate delay would be treated as "interference in the judicial process." In a previous hearing, too, the court had expressed displeasure over the absence of council representatives.
The petitioner has alleged that officials are deliberately obstructing the investigation and shielding those responsible for running fake institutions.
After the CBI stepped in, the number of recognised nursing colleges in Madhya Pradesh reportedly dropped from over 600 to around 200, raising serious questions about how these institutions were ever allowed to operate in the first place.
"This is not just about education; it's about the quality of health services in the country. We are heading towards destruction," Justice Sreedharan warned.
Petitioner Mr Baghel told NDTV, "For the first time this matter was heard by the new bench, and when we presented a complete briefing of three years, the court was
