CBI Uncovers Massive NMC Inspection Fraud: 34 Booked Including Health Ministry & NMC Officials

NMC has blacklist implicated assessors and has blocked MBBS and postgraduate seat expansions for some colleges found engaged in unethical practices.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked 34 people including officials from Union Health Ministry, National Medical Commission (NMC) and several private medical college administrators. TThese accused are part of an alleged network that manipulated inspection and regulatory processes of medical colleges in exchange for bribes.

According to CBI’s First Information Report (FIR), confidential information related to scheduled inspections, including dates and names of appointed assessors, was leaked to certain private colleges. This allowed the institutions to stage-facilitate inspections by artificially inflating infrastructure, deploying ghost faculty, and even tampering with biometric attendance logs. In several instances, institutions presented fabricated data on patient numbers and teaching staff to qualify for approvals or renewal of permissions from the NMC.

Agency has alleged that some officials from NMC and Health Ministry directly facilitated these manipulations. During a sting operation in Raipur, CBI arrested eight people, including three doctors associated with NMC—Dr Manjappa C.N., Dr Chaitra M.S., and Dr Ashok D. Shelke. A college administrator, Atul Kumar Tiwari, and others were also caught red-handed while facilitating a ₹55 lakh bribe, reportedly linked to the Rawatpura Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (SRIMSR). Bribes were routed through hawala channels and cash couriers. 

FIR also names officials from Health Ministry, including Poonam Meena, Dharamvir, and Piyush Malyan. Some of the main players such as D.P. Singh of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mayur Raval of Gitanjali University, and Ravi Shankar Maharaj and Suresh Singh Bhadoria associated with SRIMSR and Index Medical College respectively, have also been booked. Some individuals from Andhra Pradesh and other states were named for coordinating inspection frauds in their respective regions.

Following expose NMC has immediately blacklist implicated assessors and has blocked MBBS and postgraduate seat expansions of colleges found engaged in unethical practices. In a press release, commission stated that such institutions will face consequences during 2025–26 academic session andstricter guidelines for inspections will be introduced in future.

CBI is expected to widen its investigation in the coming weeks, with more arrests likely. Meanwhile, a special CBI court in Raipur is handling remand proceedings of arrested individuals.