The Supreme Court on Friday stayed a Madhya Pradesh High Court order that had directed the registration of an FIR and the formation of a special investigation team (SIT) against Congress MLA Arif Masood. Masood is accused of running a college using forged documents.
A bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi issued a notice to the Madhya Pradesh government while hearing an appeal filed by the college, which is known as Indira Priyadarshini College.
Following the high court's directive, the Madhya Pradesh police had already constituted a three-member SIT on August 21 to probe the allegations. The team is headed by Sanjeev Shami, Additional Director General of Police Telecom, with Deputy Inspector General Kalyan Chakravarty and Assistant Inspector General Nimisha Pandey as members.
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The Madhya Pradesh government had cancelled the recognition of Indira Priyadarshini College, run by the Aman Education Society, of which Masood is the secretary, on June 9. Masood subsequently challenged this decision in the high court. During the hearing, the high court ordered the Bhopal police commissioner to register an FIR against him within three days and instructed the DGP to form the SIT. The FIR was registered at the Koh-e-Fiza Police Station under sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 420 (cheating) and 471 (using a forged document). The top court’s stay now puts a hold on these proceedings.
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