A Delhi court on Monday fixed December 10 for framing charges against former Union health minister Anbumani Ramadoss and several others in two separate graft cases related to alleged favours to medica
A Delhi court on Monday fixed December 10 for framing charges against former Union health minister Anbumani Ramadoss and several others in two separate graft cases related to alleged favours to medical colleges, after it was informed that the matter is before the Supreme Court.
“It is submitted that an appeal has been filed in Supreme Court against Delhi high court order on the matter of framing of charges,” special CBI Judge Ajay Kumar Jain noted in the order. The court, which was scheduled to frame charges against the accused on Monday, was apprised by the counsel representing Mr Ramadoss that they have approached the apex court after the Delhi high court had refused to stay the framing of charges.
The high court had on October 20 dismissed a plea filed by Mr Ramadoss seeking stay of the proceedings before the trial court in both the cases.
During Monday’s proceeding, the prosecution also moved an application for addition of offences under sections 420 (cheating) read with 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), 467 (forgery of the valuable security, will, etc.) and 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) of IPC against the accused.
On October 7, the court had ordered framing of charges against Mr Ramadoss and others for various alleged offences including criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery for the purpose of cheating and using forged documents as genuine under the IPC and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act relating to public servant abusing official position. Mr Ramadoss was the Union health minister from May 2004 till April 2009 in the UPA-I government.
The two graft cases relate to alleged favours shown by Mr Ramadoss and other accused to a private medical college, Rohilkhand Medical College and Hospital, Bareilly, in Uttar Pradesh and Indore-based Index Medical College Hospital and Research Centre.
In the case of IMCHRC, apart from Mr Ramadoss, the court has ordered framing of charges against then deputy secretary in the health and family welfare ministry K.V.S. Rao, college chairman S.S. Bhadoria and its employees Nitin Gothwal and Pawan Bhambhani.
It has said they were prima facie found to have committed the offences under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC read with section 13(2) and 13(1)(d) (abuse of power by public servant) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and sections 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating) and 471 (using forged documents as genuine) of IPC.
The court, however, has discharged Safdarjung Hospital’s doctors J.S. Dhupia and Dipendra Kumar Gupta, the then section officer in ministry of health and family welfare Sudershan Kumar, IMCHRC director K.K. Saxena and faculty S.K. Tongia.
