Medical college scam: Bailable warrant against Ramadoss

A Delhi court on Saturday issued a bailable warrant against former Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss after he failed to appear before it in a case of allegedly allowing a medical college to go ahead with admissions without having sufficient resources.

Special Central Bureau of Investigation Judge Talwant Singh issued bailable warrant of Rs 10,000 against Pattali Makkal Katchi leader Ramadoss after the probe agency told the court that summons have not been served to him as he has gone to Bengaluru from Chennai for medical treatment.

"I want his presence in the court. It seems Ramadoss is avoiding the summons. Let bailable warrants of a sum of Rs 10,000 be issued against him and the same should be executed by the DIG of concerned branch of the CBI for July 20," the judge said.

Besides Ramadoss, who was the Union minister of health and family welfare from May, 2004 till April, 2009 in United Progressive Alliance-I, the CBI has filed a chargesheet against K V S Rao, diector in cabinet secretariat, Sudershan Kumar, section officer of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Dr J S Dhupia and Dr Dipendra Kumar Gupta of Safdarjung Hospital.

The chargesheet, filed before Special CBI Judge Talwant Singh, also named Suresh Singh Bhadoria, chairman of Index Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Dr S K Tongia, ex-dean of the college, Dr K K Saxena, medical director of the college, Nitin Gothwal and Dr Pawan Bhambani.

According to the chargesheet, Ramadoss and other accused conspired with each other in permitting IMCHRC admission for second year despite the fact that the Medical Council of India and a committee appointed by the Supreme Court had "repeatedly recommended" that IMCHRC was not having sufficient faculty and clinical material required as per MCI norms.

Of the 10 accused against whom chargesheet was filed by the CBI, Rao, Kumar, Dhupia, Gupta and Bhadoria, were present in court on Saturday following its summonses.

The other four accused Tongia, Saxena, Gothwal and Bhambani sought exemption from personal appearance for the day's proceedings, through their counsel, and the prayer was allowed by the court.

Ramadoss, Rao, Kumar and the two doctors of Safdarjung Hospital have been charged by the CBI under section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC along with offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Bhadoria and other four have been charged with offences of cheating and forgery. Bhadoria also faces charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

According to the CBI, the accused had entered into a conspiracy in which IMCHRC gained pecuniary advantage in the form of grant of permission for admission of second batch of MBBS students for academic year 2008-09 ignoring the recommendations of the MCI.

The MCI had made it clear that permission may not be granted to IMCHRC due to deficiencies observed by its inspectors.

In its chargesheet, the CBI had said that Bhadoria conspired with employees Tongia, Saxena, Bhambani, Gothwal and the HR manager and submitted a fake list of faculty members and false bed occupancy reports.

The agency had said Dhupia and Gupta got the signatures of "dummy faculty members" which were forged just to show full strength of the faculty members.

The CBI in its chargesheet had also said that Dhupia and Gupta, who were the inspectors of the central team, had "obtained the hospitality from the IMCHRC and failed to verify the records and persons produced before them."