LUCKNOW, April 9 -- The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court granted interim relief to former chief medical officer (CMO), Dr Anil Kumar Shukla, by staying prosecution proceedings in three cases linked to the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). The cases are pending before a special judge of the Central Bureau of Investigation in Ghaziabad. The court directed the CBI to file its reply by the first week of May. A bench of Justice Rajeev Singh passed the order on Tuesday on three separate petitions filed by Shukla under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). According to the prosecution, the cases, registered by the CBI in New Delhi, relate to alleged irregularities in the procurement of medicines and equipment between 2007 and 2009, resulting in loss to the government exchequer. The petitioner's counsel argued that there was no concrete evidence against Shukla. He submitted that a discharge application filed before the trial court remains pending, prompting the petitioner to move the high court. Opposing the plea, CBI's counsel raised a preliminary objection, saying that the petitions were not maintainable as the discharge application was still pending before the trial court in Ghaziabad. Rejecting the objection, the bench noted that in one of the cases, the petitioner had served as CMO for only one-and-a-half days.htc...