The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a graft case at the Special Court against 17 individuals, including top officials of Kathmandu University (KU) and Nepal Medical Council (NMC), for involvement in irregularities while granting affiliation to Rupandehi-based Devdaha Medical College. The anti-graft body moved the court on Wednesday after it found the involvement of KU and NMC officials in irregularities while granting affiliation to the college. Those accused of irregularities by the CIAA are NMC Vice-president Dr. Anwar Elahi Ansari; NMC members Dr. Anil Kumar Jha, Dr. Manohar Prasad Jha, Dr. Roshan Piya, Dr. Niraj Pant, Dr. Kuldip Goit, and Dr. Ankur Shah; KU exam controller and professor Dr. Panna Thapa, Dr. Jagadish Chataut and Dr. Ramesh Prasad Singh; and KU Manager Pradyumna Shrestha. Assistant Professor Dr. Satish Kumar Dev of TU Teaching Hospital, Maharajgunj, and operators of Devdaha College -- Rajaneesh Jindal, Nilakantha Kafle, and Himlal Gyawali -- are others accused in the case. Consumer activist Jyoti Baniya and Dr. Shivaji Paudel have also been named as defendants. Issuing a press statement, the CIAA said the KU and NMC officials granted affiliation to the medical college, which does not meet the set standards. It was found during the CIAA investigation that KU and NMC officials allowed the college to run MBBS classes for 40 students. According to the Accreditation Standards for the MBBS Degree Program, 2013, a medical college must have at least 50 students to be allowed to run MBBS classes. The CIAA has asked the college management to make arrangements for the 40 students to pursue their medical degree in another college.