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New Delhi: The CBI has conducted searches at the premises of Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) President Montu M Patel after he was booked for alleged corruption and systemic irregularities in the inspection and approval processes for pharmacy colleges, officials said on Friday.

The action against Patel was taken based on the findings of a preliminary enquiry (PE) which showed instances of alleged corruption, control and potential manipulation in granting approvals to colleges, besides initial allegations against him of pre-election inducements and post-election nepotism.

In its enquiry based on a complaint from the Union health ministry secretary, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) scrutinised the methods by which pharmacy colleges received accreditation, revealing a departure from the established norms and a lack of transparency.

The PE showed that up to December 2022, inspections were conducted in offline mode, necessitating visits to college sites by PCI teams and the preparation of reports in a standard format.

These reports, along with compliance reports, were then considered by the Executive Committee (EC) for approval.

It is alleged that under Patel, key changes were made in 2023-24 during the 391st EC meeting, effectively discontinuing the practice of physical inspections altogether and replacing it with Standard Inspection Format (SIF) applications online and conducting inspections through video conferencing, the officials said.

The applications were invited through a Google link from April 24 to May 5, 2023. A total of 908 applications were received and 870 of these were shortlisted for online inspections, they said.

The online inspections opened the doors for alleged corruption, with the prime example cited in the FIR being the case of Rameshwar Prasad Satya Narayan Mahavidyalaya in Ayodhya.

Despite a recorded 8-minute online inspection on July 3, 2023, which noted the absence of the principal and non-compliant infrastructure, the EC, in its meeting, granted the institute five days to submit compliance via affidavit, according to the officials.

Based on the compliance report, Patel accorded approval to the institute to conduct a D. Pharma course despite a negative report from the inspectors, the officials said.

They said the agency found in its enquiry that the college was owned and controlled by Vinod Kumar Tiwari, who allegedly paid over Rs 10 lakh in cash and an additional Rs 95,000 through banking channels to Santosh Kumar Jha, a primary teacher.

This payment was allegedly for “managing the inspection and obtaining approval and for arranging infrastructural facilities like books, lab setup, faculty, and PCI approval”, they said.

The CBI visited the institute only to find a dilapidated building with no faculty, infrastructure, or students, they said.

The agency has highlighted widespread deficiencies in 23 approved colleges in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan during Patel’s tenure.

At least six colleges — SSD College of Pharmacy, Gagan College of Pharmacy, Shanti Devi Jain Degree College, Heyward College of Pharmacy, Veer Shivaji College of Pharmacy and Subhawati College of Pharmacy — were approved by the EC headed by Patel despite negative reports from inspectors, the CBI has alleged.

“The facts during PE prima facie reveal that Montu Kumar Patel, in criminal conspiracy with unknown members of EC, gave approval in favour of the aforesaid institutions in lieu of undue gains obtained for self or others,” the FIR alleged.

In other instances of manipulation of PCI functioning, the agency said, the scope of the agenda for the 114th Central Council meeting on April 6, 2022, was to elect the president.

The CBI alleged that Patel went beyond the scope of the agenda to elect Nilimenka Das as an EC member and six others as co-opted members, thereby “wresting control of the Executive Committee”.

These co-opted members were allegedly given blanket permission to be part of the EC for the whole year and participate in decision-making, including college approvals, it said.

Later, several EC decisions were made without putting items to vote, which included manipulation of digital portal access and irregular seat adjustments in pharmacy colleges, it said.

The CBI also underlined the pattern of ostensible electoral manipulation leading up to the PCI presidential elections on April 6, 2022.

It is alleged that on April 2, 2022, merely four days before the decisive vote, presidential aspirant Patel booked 15 rooms at the Hotel Connaught here from April 3 to April 6, 2022, spending over Rs 2.75 lakh on accommodation and food and beverages.

Patel and 12 other members of the Central Council, who were also eligible voters in the April 6, 2022, election, were accommodated in these rooms, the PE found.

This arrangement strongly suggests a concerted effort to influence voters or extend undue advantage in the immediate run-up to the election in which Patel was a primary candidate, the agency has alleged.