In 2020, an almost miffed Justice PV Kunhikrishnan turned to the police officers in the courtroom and asked the investigating officer whether he was afraid to arrest Bishop A Dharmmaraj Rasalam and others who were allegedly involved in the Karakonam Medical College scam.
When the answer was given in the negative, the court sought to know why Bishop Rasalam, Church of South India (CSI) church secretary Praveen and former director Bennett Abraham had not been arrested.
Calling the three accused “giant sharks”, the Kerala High Court further slammed the police for their inaction and deemed their lack of interest to arrest the accused as “worrisome”.
According to a petition filed in the high court, it was alleged that a capitation fee upwards of Rs 50 lakh was collected with the promise of an allocation of an MD and MBBS seat but later admissions were not given.
It was further alleged that several people were cheated by the trio who collected huge sums of money by offering admissions at Dr Somervell Memorial CSI Medical College in Karakonam in Thiruvananthapuram.
How Did the Scam Take Place?
A lawyer working closely with the case who requested anonymity told News18 that transactions of up to Rs 60 lakh were found to have been collected with the promise of allotting MBBS seats. Those been cheated were largely students from the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu.
“The money was collected from these students with the promise that they will get a seat despite the fact that non-Keralites were ineligible for admission to MBBS, BDS and MD courses in Kerala,” the lawyer said.
Political observer and senior journalist Roy Mathew says those involved in the admission scam would demand exorbitant fees with the promise of an MBS or MD seat.
“Since these are minority status institutions, 50% of the seats are for meritorious students and the other 50% 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 said.
Mathew further said, “They would go to any extent to make money. There is no doubt that they used these institutions to launder money as well. There is a possibility that the ED may even arrest the bishop tomorrow in Kochi where he has been summoned to appear.”
The Kerala HC had earlier cancelled admissions of 11 MBBS students for which Bishop Dharmaraj Rasalam had allegedly asked them to submit fake community certificates.
The ED Raids
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday consulted a 13-hour marathon raid of the medical college and the offices of the Church of South India (CSI) in Thiruvananthapuram in connection with the admission scam and allegations of money laundering taking place through church-run institutions. The ED also raided the offices of the Bishop A Dharmaraj Rasalam, residence of church secretary TT Praveen, former director of medical college Dr Bennet Abraham and office of the medical college.
Bishop Rasalam, who was on his way to the UK to attend a church event, was detained by emigration officials at the behest of the ED. Praveen and his family have been missing since late Sunday evening.
Interestingly, apart from the bishop, Bennet Abraham, who is another key accused, had contested in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from Thiruvananthapuram as a CPI-backed candidate against Congress leader Shashi Tharoor.
Calling the allegations against the diocese as “baseless and based on false allegations”, the Church of South India spokesperson and director of the Christian education board of the diocese, CR Godwin, said he welcomes the ED raids. Godwin said all the necessary documents and evidence have been submitted in the court.
“This is the handiwork of a few jealous individuals and we are already to fight them in the court of law,” he said.
South Kerala Diocese spokesperson Fr Jayaraj told News18 that the raids did not throw up any incrementing evidence rather the ED did not find anything at all. He added that there has been false propaganda circulated by those with vested interest to sabotage the CSI Church.
“If you see, Bishop Ratlam lives a very simple life. He lives on his monthly salary and has only Rs 2,500 in his bank account,” Fr Jayaraj said.
News18 also spoke to VT Mohanan, who lodged 19 complaints against the Bishop, Bennett, Praveen and the alleged activities in the CSI.
A panel headed by Justice R Rajendra Babu, which was appointed the chairman of fee regulatory and admission supervisory committee, had recommended that criminal proceedings should be initiated against Bishop Rasalam and that the aggrieved students must be issued a refund. The panel also observed that it amounted to “wilful cheating” as Dr Bennet Abraham and several other officials were aware of the corrupt practices they were indulging in.
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