CBI raids Pharmacy Council of India president’s Ahmedabad residence in bribery, corruption probe

Three days after registering a criminal case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday conducted searches at two residential premises of Dr Montu Kumar Patel, president of the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI), in Ahmedabad. The raids, which took place under tight security, came amid allegations of large-scale corruption, ranging from Dr Patel’s election to the council presidency to the allegedly questionable approval of pharmacy colleges across several states.

The CBI remained tight-lipped about the specifics of the operation but confirmed that the searches were carried out based on an FIR lodged with its Anti-Corruption unit in Delhi on June 30.

According to the FIR, Dr Patel and several others, including Vinod Kumar Tiwari and Santosh Kumar Jha, are accused of criminal conspiracy, cheating, bribery, and abusing public office. The charges are framed under sections of the Indian Penal Code, along with sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018).

Hospitality to sway votes in PCI elections?

CBI’s preliminary enquiry, launched in May 2023 on a reference from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, reportedly uncovered serious irregularities in the 2022 PCI elections. Dr Patel, who contested the presidential election held on 6 April 2022, allegedly hosted 12 Central Council voters in a luxury hotel in New Delhi for three days leading up to the poll. The ₹2.75 lakh bill reportedly borne by Dr Patel, covering accommodation and meals, and is seen as a quid pro quo effort to secure votes.

Once elected, Dr Patel is alleged to have strategically appointed close associates to the Executive Committee, consolidating decision-making powers and sidelining dissenting voices within the council.

Phantom colleges and sham Inspections

Under Dr Patel’s leadership, the PCI abandoned physical inspections in favour of online evaluations through video conferencing platforms for the 2023–24 academic year. Investigators found that around 870 new pharmacy institutions were processed through this virtual model, where inspections were often allegedly perfunctory and sometimes lasted less than ten minutes. Inspectors were stationed only in a few regions, and reports were allegedly rubber-stamped without due diligence.

One striking example highlighted in the FIR is the case of Rameshwar Prasad Satya Narayan Mahavidyalaya in Ayodhya, purportedly linked to co-accused Vinod Tiwari of Faizabad, UP. Despite failing to meet basic norms and lacking faculty, the college secured PCI approval based merely on an affidavit. Later visits revealed the institute in a severely dilapidated condition.

Accusations of bribery 

The complaint states that Vinod Tiwari paid over ₹10 lakh in cash and an additional ₹95,000 through formal banking channels to Santosh Kumar Jha, a government school teacher from Ayodhya, to ‘arrange’ PCI approvals. These funds were allegedly used to fabricate compliance, including the hiring of proxy faculty and the procurement of books and lab equipment, mostly on paper.

CBI’s investigation tracked multiple financial transactions from Tiwari to Jha during the latter half of 2022 and again in September 2023.

Furthermore, inspections of at least 23 colleges across Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan were allegedly conducted in a similar fashion – hastily, and without verifying whether institutions had the requisite facilities.

Digital portal manipulation and overreach

The probe also uncovered potential tampering with the PCI’s college approval portal. An MoU between PCI and the National Informatics Centre (NIC), Hyderabad, outlined that NIC would develop a secure digital platform and train PCI staff accordingly. However, CBI claims that Dr Patel pressured NIC to prematurely declare the project complete in October 2022. Shortly thereafter, NIC officers were stripped of their administrative credentials, enabling certain PCI insiders to allegedly exploit the system for favoured colleges.

The digital interface, according to investigators, remained partially incomplete and was being manipulated to bypass key regulatory checks.

Larger conspiracy unfolds

Several colleges, including SSD College of Pharmacy, Gagan College in Aligarh, and Heyward College in Gwalior, reportedly received approvals despite negative inspection findings.

The FIR cites prima facie evidence of a criminal conspiracy involving both public functionaries and private individuals along with Dr Patel, Tiwari, and Jha. 

With the case marking one of the most serious corruption allegations in India’s higher education regulatory framework, officials suggest that more raids, arrests, and disclosures are likely in the days ahead.