A Delhi court has recently granted bail to a middleman, arrested along with a Safdarjung Hospital neurosurgeon and others, for allegedly forcing patients into buying surgical equipment.
Notably, the investigation in the case is almost complete, special judge Anil Antil granted relief to Avnesh Patel, observing that he had been working under the instructions and directions of the main accused Dr. Manish Rawat.
Also, the judge noted that the entire documentary and electronic evidence has been already seized by CBI from the hospital and other places.
The judge said that, “Taking note of the nature of accusations and the role attributed to him by the prosecution as stated to be working under the instructions and directions of main accused Dr Manish Rawat, and taking note of the custody period of the applicant, i.e around 51 days in total, the accused is admitted to regular bail.”
According to the prosecution, Dr. Rawat was conspiring with Patel and others to extract payment from patients for medical consultations and surgical procedures while defying the hospital’s established protocols.
Further, it was alleged that the surgeon directed his patients, through his middlemen, to purchase surgical instruments from Kanishka Surgical, whose proprietor Deepak Khattar has also been arrested, forcing them to pay inflated prices.
The CBI then claimed that the doctor force the patients into paying more than the actual price for the surgical items and that the shop owner shared the profits of overcharges with the accused physician.
Further, the federal agency claimed that the investigation revealed that Rawat directed his patients to deposit bribes ranging from Rs 30,000 to Rs 15 lakh into a middleman’s bank account.
While granting bail to the accused, the judge directed him not to tamper with the evidence of the case or influence the witnesses in any manner.
Further, it directed the accused to join the pending investigation of the case when required.
The accused sought bail on the grounds that he was arrested on March 30 and was no longer required for the investigation.
The CBI opposed the bail application, claiming that the investigation was at a crucial stage and the evidence has still being collected.
The agency alleged that, within 2 years the accused seems to have dealt with about 700-750 patients and transacted almost Rs 2.5 – 3 crore by extracting money from the patients and their attendants.
Dr Rawat and Khattar are still in custody in the case.
