The five doctors from Hiranandani hospital who have been arrested in the kidney scam will be spending two more days in judicial custody, after a magistrate court on Tuesday scheduled the hearing of th
The five doctors from Hiranandani hospital who have been arrested in the kidney scam will be spending two more days in judicial custody, after a magistrate court on Tuesday scheduled the hearing of their bail application for Thursday.
The legal counsel for the doctors have demanded bail on the grounds that the doctors were only involved in the operation and surgical stages and had nothing to do with the forged documents submitted in the racket.
On Saturday, a special Bandra magistrate court remanded the five arrested doctors in judicial custody till August 26. While the legal counsel for the lawyers moved the court for bail the same day, the Bandra court scheduled the hearing for Tuesday.
On Tuesday, the legal counsel for the doctors Abad Ponda told the 66th Andheri metropolitan court of magistrate A.D. Lokhande that, on Saturday, the police themselves in the remand copy had said “there are no financial gains by the accused doctors and they no longer needed their custody”.
The legal counsel, in the plea, stated that the doctors had had no role to play in the checking of forged documents submitted by the donor in the kidney racket busted at LH Hiranandani Hospital. “The doctors’ roles came into play only during the surgery and a day before the scheduled operation. They were not supposed to check for the authenticity of the documents submitted by the involved parties,” said Mr Ponda. He added that while the doctors had been remanded in custody, some of the main accused were out on bail, including the donor of the kidney. “The investigating officers from Powai police station themselves had said that they don’t need the doctors’ custody. They have also submitted that no financial links were found in the doctors’ bank records,” he said.
Advocate Pranav Badheka, who was present for urologist Dr Mukesh Shah and nephrologist Mukesh Shette, said the two doctors did not even perform the surgery. “The authorisation committee had given the go-ahead and these doctors came into the picture only a day before the operation. They had no part to play before the scheduled surgery,” Mr Badheka said.
The magistrate has scheduled the bail hearing for August 18 at Andheri court. ED seeks key details of case The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has sought from the Mumbai police key details related to their probe into the kidney-transplant scam that saw the arrest of five doctors from the Powai-based private Hiranandani hospital last week. The central agency, which probes into money-laundering and foreign exchange violations, sought from the police the case’s FIR, among other records. “The ED usually seeks information on key police probes into suspected laundering of illegal proceeds from crime, to ascertain if the agency must begin its own probe into it as well,” said an agency source. For a money-laundering probe, which is criminal in nature, a prior FIR is required for the ED to register a separate case. Confirming the ED’s move, a senior Mumbai police officer said, “The ED has asked for details related to the scam and the team concerned will furnish the information sought from us.”
