New Delhi, November 21
In connection with the supply of sub-standard laparoscopes to government hospitals across the country, the CBI today conducted searches at 14 places in six States and registered cases against several officials of a private pharmaceutical company and two top doctors of Safdarjung Hospital and Lady Hardinge Medical College.

The raids were simultaneously conducted by the sleuths of the CBI’s anti-corruption unit at Faridabad in Haryana, Delhi, Thiruvananthapuram, Bangalore, Goa and Noida in Uttar Pradesh after registering a case for alleged irregularity in awarding a contract worth about Rs 7 crore for single and double puncture laparoscopses.

The cases have been registered under Sections 120-B (Criminal Conspiracy) r/w 420 IPC (cheating) and 13(2) r/w 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (criminal misconduct) against Dr Sudha Salhan, Consultant and Head of Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, and Dr Uma Goel, former Professor and Head of Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi.

Others against whom cases have been registered include General Manager (Procurement) of Hindustan Lates Ltd (HLL), Thiruvananthapuram V.S. Bhatt, Company Secretary and DGM (Finance), HLL, Thiruvananthapuram V.A. Sasidharan, Manager (Procurement), HLL G. Sreekumar, Assistant Manager Accounts, HLL Alex Abraham, Bio-Medical Engineer, HLL Abraham Mathew and Directors of a Private Pharmaceutical Company and certain officials of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi, a CBI spokesperson said after the raids.

Incriminating documents have been found during the day-long searches conducted at the official and residential premises of the suspects, the CBI spokesperson claimed.

As per the case, the allegation is that the above public servants abused their official position in awarding the contract worth about Rs 7 crore to the private pharmaceutical firm in 2001 for supply of 250 single puncture laparoscopes and 100 double puncture laparoscopes for use in various government hospitals across the country.

There were allegedly several irregularities and inconsistencies in the basis of the evaluation and short-listing of the lowest responsive bidder.

There was further allegation that the technical members of the bid evaluation committee were changed with a view to favour the private firm and an unsatisfactory report of another technical expert was suppressed.