CBI busts bribery racket at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Delhi, nine arrested

Samad Hoque

New Delhi, May 8

The CBI on Wednesday busted a bribery racket and arrested nine persons, including two doctors, from Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. The investigating agency alleged that the doctors and hospital staff engaged in soliciting bribes from patients and suppliers of medical equipment.

A case has been filed by the CBI against 11 persons, including two doctors, hospital staff, representatives of medical suppliers and their respective firms, under Sections 7 (public servant being bribed), 9 (person/public servant taking bribe for personally influencing a public servant) and 10 (person in charge of a commercial organisation guilty of an offence) of the Prevention of Corruption Act of 1988, as well as Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.

The doctors have been identified as Dr Parvathagouda Channappagouda (Cardiology Department) and Dr Ajay Raj (Cardiology Department).

According to the FIR accessed by The Tribune, Dr Parvathagouda and Dr Raj allegedly demanded bribes for permitting the use of medical devices to be implanted by the doctors. Sources reveal that on May 2 Parvathagouda demanded bribes from Naresh Nagpal (owner of Nagpal Technologies) for permitting the use of medical equipment. He also asked Nagpal to clear the previous month’s dues to which Nagpal assured him that it will be settled by May 7.

The amount of bribe money extended to Dr Parvathagouda reportedly totalled Rs 2.48 lakh, as per sources.

“In March, he had demanded bribe from Abrar Ahmed (Director, Scienmed) for similar promotion of the supplied equipment. Ahmed had transferred Rs 1,95,000 to the bank account of Dr Parvathagouda’s father. Later, he requested him to settle all outstanding dues as soon as possible, as he would be departing for Europe on a personal trip. Abrar assured him of prompt payment,” a source said.

Likewise, in April, the doctor solicited a bribe from Akarshan Gulati, Territory Sales Manager at Biotronics. Despite being out of town, Gulati assured him that the demanded bribe would be paid promptly through another employee, Monika Sinha, according to the source.

“Dr Parvathagouda contacted her and asked her to make a bribe payment of Rs 36,000 through UPI and the balance in cash,” the FIR stated. Sources revealed that Dr Raj similarly demanded a bribe of Rs 25,000 from Bharat Singh Dalal of Bharati Medical Technology on April 26 for promoting medical equipment. Dalal paid the demanded bribe, and on May 3, Raj further demanded Rs 35,000, which was also transferred to his account.

The FIR also mentioned the involvement of RML Hospital staff. “A senior technical in-charge, Rajnish Kumar, demanded Rs 1 lakh from Abrar Ahmad for promoting the supplied equipment, which was also transferred,” it stated.

According to a source, the bribery racket also included a clerk and a nurse, Bhuval Jaiswal and Shalu Sharma, respectively, who demanded bribes from patients to facilitate appointments, admissions and investigations at the hospital.

“On January 17, Bhuval and Shalu demanded Rs 20,000 as a bribe for admitting a woman for delivery at the hospital. Shalu threatened the woman’s husband that if the amount was not paid, his wife would be discharged immediately without any further treatment,” the FIR read. Additionally, another clerk, Sanjay Kumar Gupta, was reported to have demanded bribes for preparing medical and fitness certificates. “He demanded Rs 700 on January 24 from a person seeking a seven-day medical rest certificate, Rs 500 on February 23 for a five-day bed rest and Rs 300 on February 10 for a three-day medical rest certificate, which were transferred to his account through UPI,” sources added.

All of them were produced before a special court which sent them to CBI custody till May 14 for further probe.

FIR names 11 persons, including 2 doctors

• The CBI FIR flags multiple instances of corruption. It claimed that clerks and nurses threatened to throw out a pregnant woman if Rs 20,000 was not paid to two doctors, who were allegedly taking lakhs from medical equipment suppliers.
• The agency has named 11 persons and four firms in the FIR, including six hospital employees, a middleman and four medical equipment suppliers
• The CBI FIR alleged that two cardiologists collected bribes from medical equipment and stent suppliers to recommend their products to the patients under treatment at the government hospital.