The bishop of a Thiruvananthapuram church was stopped from flying to Britain and detained. His crime? He is allegedly part of a racket which involved selling seats to medical aspirants and laundering money
The Enforcement Directorate is investigating alleged irregularities in a medical college run by the Church of South India
First came the raids by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on church premises, then the detention of a bishop. The money-laundering scam at the medical college in Kerala’s Karakonam involved lakhs of rupees and church authorities who were allegedly selling MD and MBBS seats.
The bishop of the Church of South India (CSI) in Thiruvananthapuram was stopped from flying to the United Kingdom on Tuesday. CSI South Kerala Bishop Dharmaraj Rasalam was detained by immigration officials at the international airport in the state capital at the behest of the ED. He has been asked to turn up before the probe agency for questioning as part of an ongoing investigation.
What is the scam?
Medical aspirants from the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu were sold seats to Dr Somervell Memorial CSI Medical College in Karakonam in Thiruvananthapuram, which is run by the Church of South India. More than Rs 50 lakh of fees were collected with the promise of admissions to colleges which were not given.
The students were assured that they would get the seats for MBBS, BDS, and MD courses to which non-Keralites were illegible, according to a report in News18.
Political observer and senior journalist Roy Mathew told the news channel that those involved in the admission scam would demand exorbitant fees with the promise of a seat. “Since these are minority status institutions, 50 per cent of the seats are for meritorious students and the other 50 per cent for management quota. The medical college has 100 seats and those involved in the scam would offer them to people at exorbitant rates and submit fake community certificates in the names of those students who could afford their price,” he told News18.
According to a lawyer working closely with the case, more than Rs 60 lakh were collected for seats in the medical college.
The capitation fees collected from the students by the church were kept in a separate account without any receipts or bills.
How was the scam unearthed?
The controversy first erupted in 2018 after 11 students produced fake community certificates as allegedly instructed by Bishop Rasalam. The Kerala High Court cancelled their admission later.
A petition had been filed in the court saying that fees of more than Rs 50 lakh had been collected from students but no admissions were given.
In 2020, when hearing the matter, the Kerala High Court slammed the police for its inaction. Justice PV Kunhikrishnan asked the investigating officer whether he was afraid to arrest Bishop Rasalam and others who were allegedly involved in the scam. The judge questioned why the bishop and other accused — CSI church secretary Praveen and former director Bennett Abraham had not been arrested and referred to them as “giant sharks”, reports News18.
What action has been taken since?
A panel headed by Justice R Rajendra Babu, which was appointed the chairman of the fee regulatory and admission supervisory committee, had recommended that criminal proceedings should be initiated against Bishop Rasalam. It had also said that the aggrieved students must be issued a refund, observing that the scam amounted to “wilful cheating” as Dr Abraham and several other officials were aware of the corrupt practices they were indulging in, reports News18.
The ED on Monday raided multiple premises, including the headquarters, of the CSI in Thiruvananthapuram. The raided premises included the residences of Rasalam, Dr Abraham, who had contested as a Left candidate in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, and Praveen.
Rasalam will be grilled by the ED today.What is the church saying?
Calling the allegations against the diocese “baseless and based on false allegations”, the CSI spokesperson and director of the Christian education board of the diocese, CR Godwin, said that he welcomed the ED raids and the necessary documents and evidence were submitted in the court.
He said that the crime branch had already conducted an inquiry into the matter.
“As I said earlier, 25 people have filed cases against the medical college regarding capitation and the case was in court. The ED wants to know more about the case. We are happy to clarify; they are questioning the bishop and he is happy to give answers to their questions,” Godwin told the media on Monday.
With inputs from agencies
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