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₹181 crore Himachal Pradesh scholarship scam: Court flags 332 missing pages in ED bribery case
In an order dated November 10, special judge Bhawna Jain recorded that pages 3,425 to 3,756 of a document marked as relied upon were missing from the certified copies submitted by the prosecution
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The Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Chandigarh has taken note of 332 missing pages in the documentary record accompanying the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) complaint against its former assistant director Vishal Deep and others in the alleged ₹2.5 crore bribery case linked to the ₹181 crore Himachal Pradesh scholarship scam.
In an order dated November 10, special judge Bhawna Jain recorded that pages 3,425 to 3,756 of a document marked as relied upon were missing from the certified copies submitted by the prosecution. The court’s record official (Ahlmad) flagged the discrepancy, which was also confirmed by the ED’s special public prosecutor.
The court consequently proceeded on the assumption that the complaint did not contain the said pages.
The matter has been listed for January 5, 2027, for preliminary hearing on whether the accused should be summoned. Notices have also been ordered to be issued to the accused under the first proviso to Section 223(1) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), giving them an opportunity to be heard before the court considers summoning them.
The court also dispensed with the recording of preliminary evidence, observing that the complaint had been filed through assistant director Bijender Dayal, an authorised public servant. His personal appearance was also exempted, with the special public prosecutor directed to represent him during the proceedings.
The case stems from allegations of a ₹2.5 crore bribe linked to the investigation into the alleged ₹181 crore Himachal Pradesh scholarship scam. The CBI had filed a separate chargesheet in February 2025 against four persons, including Vishal Deep, his brother Vikasdeep, cousin Neeraj and CBI deputy superintendent of police Balbir Singh.
The alleged scholarship scam involved irregularities in scholarships disbursed to educational institutions in Himachal Pradesh between 2012 and 2017. The CBI had initiated its investigation in 2019, naming 29 educational institutions in fraud related cases. The ED subsequently initiated a money laundering investigation, with Vishal Deep, then posted at its Shimla sub zonal office, handling the probe.
According to the CBI’s allegations, private educational institution operators were allegedly pressured to pay bribes to influence the investigation and avoid arrest. The agency had also alleged that Balbir Singh acted as an intermediary in the bribery arrangement.
The present proceedings before the PMLA court concern the ED’s money laundering complaint and are separate from the CBI’s corruption prosecution.
