Satara medical admissions scam: PMLA court refuses bail to education society head

A PMLA court denied bail to Mahadev Deshmukh, accused of defrauding students of ₹65.7 crore for non-existent MBBS seats, citing his own trial delays.

MUMBAI: A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court on Thursday rejected the bail plea filed by Mahadev Deshmukh, the president of Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Education Society in Satara, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for allegedly cheating several students to the tune of ₹65.7 crore.

Satara medical admissions scam: PMLA court refuses bail to education society head

While rejecting the plea, the special court observed that Deshmukh could not rely on the grounds of the trial being delayed to apply for bail, as the delay was due to his own inaction in proceeding further.

According to the ED, Deshmukh and the other accused collected crores of rupees from students between 2011 and 2016 under the guise of providing MBBS seats to them at the Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Mayani. However, the students were neither given admission nor was their money refunded, claimed the prosecution. The institute is run by the Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Education Society.

The amounts given by the students were shown as hospital income in the education society’s balance sheet, which was diverted by Deshmukh and others in the guise of salaries and payments for building construction and medical equipment. Deshmukh also allegedly hired agents who promised admission to students on a commission basis.

As per the ED’s chargesheet, the institute did not have permission from the Medical Council of India to admit students for an MBBS course when Deshmukh collected money from around 350 students. The admissions regulatory authority refused to renew the permission due to the lack of infrastructure at the institute, the ED claimed.

However, Deshmukh filed an instant bail plea, submitting that he has Parkinson’s disease and also suffers from severe constipation with bleeding piles, a gastritis problem, Alzheimer’s, epilepsy and has gone through two paralysis attacks so far. The defence raised the argument of the long period of incarceration, observing that Deshmukh was in jail for two years and five months. They submitted that there is no likelihood of the trial beginning soon, and he can be treated properly at home if released on bail.

After the bail plea was filed, the court constituted a board under the superintendent of JJ Hospital to examine Deshmukh. Special judge AC Daga reflected on the findings produced by the board, which pointed out that no active medical intervention was needed now. The court observed that Deshmukh cannot be termed a sick or infirm person, which would entitle him to bail.

On the grounds of the delay in the trial, the court observed that it was necessary to look at who the defaulter was. The first bail plea, which was filed in August 2022, was taken up for argument in July 2024 after multiple adjournments. “As such, for about 20 months, the matter was adjourned at the instance of the applicant”, observed the court, adding that the “delay in commencing of the trial cannot be attributed to the prosecution but it is because of the applicant.”