However, the court pointed out that the agency “has not challenged the deteriorating medical condition” of Shukla, who had suffered a stroke in June this year following which he was admitted to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi for about a month.
“In the interest of justice, the applicant can be enlarged on short term bail on medical ground,” the court remarked.
A 1981 batch IAS officer, Shukla was the Principal Secretary for Health and Family Welfare in the state during the previous Mayawati regime when the alleged irregularities in the implementation of centrally-sponsored National Rural Health Mission scheme had taken place.
The CBI had earlier filed a charge sheet against Shukla for his alleged involvement in the irregularities in upgrading of 89 district hospitals in the state, under NRHM scheme, causing a loss of Rs 16 crore to the exchequer.
