Gorakhpur/Patna: An FIR has been registered against Dr G K Pal, former executive director of AIIMS Patna, and his son following allegations that a forged caste certificate was used to secure a postgraduate medical admission, marking a rare criminal case against a former head of an All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
The case was lodged at the Gorakhpur AIIMS police station on the directions of Gorakhpur Chief Judicial Magistrate Twishi Srivastava, who had issued the order on November 7. The registration of the FIR followed weeks of delay, during which the police cited a preliminary inquiry.
According to the complaint, Dr Pal allegedly procured a fake Other Backward Classes (OBC) non-creamy layer certificate for his son, Dr Oroprasad Pal, enabling his admission to the MD (Microbiology) programme at AIIMS Gorakhpur on August 30. The complainant, Ashutosh Kumar Mishra of Divyanagar in Gorakhpur Cantt police station area, alleged that the certificate was invalid given the family’s income.
Investigators have noted that Dr Pal and his wife, Parvati Pal, together earned more than Rs 80 lakh annually at the time—well above the income threshold for non-creamy layer eligibility under OBC norms. The admission, they allege, would not have been possible without the disputed certificate.
The controversy first surfaced while Dr Pal was serving as executive director at AIIMS Gorakhpur between January 3 and September 27. After the matter reached the Union health ministry, he was removed from that post, and subsequently relieved of his responsibilities at AIIMS Patna as well.
Dr Pal is currently posted at JIPMER Puducherry. Officials have said the investigation will now examine the procurement of the certificate, the admission process, and the roles of all those involved.
