The CBI has got the Centre’s sanction to prosecute retired Allahabad High Court judge S.N. Shukla in a corruption case for allegedly favouring in his orders a private medical college that had been barred from admitting students because of poor infrastructure, officials said.

The CBI had applied for a go-ahead on April 16 in accordance with the Prevention of Corruption Act, they said.

The agency also named in the FIR retired Chhattisgarh High Court judge I.M. Quddusi and the Prasad Education Trust, among others, officials said. The CBI does not need sanction to prosecute Quddusi as he had already retired at the time of the alleged offence.

Justice Shukla, heading a division bench, had allegedly defied restraint orders passed by a Supreme Court bench led by the Chief Justice to permit private colleges to admit students for the 2017-18 session.

Then CJI Dipak Misra had constituted a committee to look into the allegations. The committee had concluded there was sufficient substance in the allegations to call for removal proceedings.

Justice Misra in 2018 asked Justice Shukla to resign or seek voluntary retirement but he refused, and judicial work was taken away from him.

It is alleged that the Prasad Institute of Medical Sciences was debarred from admitting students in May 2017. The trust challenged the decision in the Supreme Court, but later withdrew the petition. Another writ petition was filed before the high court on

August 24, 2017, the officials said. The petition was heard on August 25, 2017, and a favourable order passed the same day.