Bhopal: Case Against Congress MLA Arif Masood For College Recognition Fraud

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Koh-e-Fiza police on Wednesday registered a case against Congress MLA Arif Masood for allegedly obtaining recognition for his college through forged documents. The action follows directions issued by the Jabalpur High Court.

DCP Zone-3 Riyaz Iqbal said that the case has been filed against Masood and other unnamed accused in compliance with the court’s order. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been assigned to carry out further probe into the matter.

The case pertains to Indira Priyadarshini College, located in Khanugaon and run by the Aman Education Society, where Masood serves as secretary.

Earlier, the Higher Education Department had cancelled the college’s recognition. However, keeping students’ academic interests in mind, the court allowed ongoing classes to continue while prohibiting fresh admissions.

On Monday, during a hearing, Justice Atul Sreedharan directed police to register an FIR within three days and submit a compliance report. The court found that the college had secured recognition on the basis of fabricated documents, prompting the order for immediate legal action.

Past probes ignored, officials in dock

Investigations have revealed that this is not the first time serious irregularities were flagged. In 2004, an inquiry by the Higher Education Department, conducted on instructions of the then district collector, found that the solvency documents submitted by the society were forged.

A second inquiry in 2010 exposed that the society had submitted fake land registry papers for land that was, in fact, held on a 30-year lease from the Nawab family.

Despite both inquiries clearly establishing use of fraudulent documents, no FIRs were registered at the time. Police have now registered the case under IPC sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120B, and the role of officials who previously conducted the inquiries but failed to act is also being investigated.