Bombay High Court Grants Bail To Trustees Booked For Providing 'Bogus' Doctors To BMC-Run Hospital

The Bombay High Court recently granted bail to a doctor and trustees of a Trust that supplied 'bogus doctors' to a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) hospital situated in Mumbai's Mulund area, wherein 149 people allegedly died from 2018 till May 2023.

Single-judge Justice Manish Pitale granted bail to Dr Sushan Jadhav, Birendra Yadav and Deepak Jain - all booked under charges of murder, attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy, forgery, impersonation, fraud etc.

According to the complainant, he received a call stating that his brother was 'unconscious' and was taken to the MT Agarwal hospital, in Mulund. However, his brother was declared 'brought dead' after he was brought to the said hospital. The complainant alleged medical negligence on the part of the doctors in the hospital. He, therefore, received information under the Right To Information (RTI Act), which revealed that the trust - Jeevan Jyot Charitable Trust - had provided at least 17 bogus doctors to the said hospital since 2018. In the very RTI response, the complainant learnt that a total of 149 deaths had taken place in the hospital.

Based on the RTI response, the complainant contended that the Trust supplied quacks and unqualified doctors, which led to so many deaths in the said hospital.

However, Justice Pitale noted that the statement of the complainant does not identify particular individual or individuals as victims whose deaths or injuries could be relatable to specific acts of commission or omission on the part of the applicants before the Court.

"The FIR has been registered on the basis of material unearthed by enquiries made by the informant in connection with the affairs of the hospital run by the BMC. The allegations are omnibus and general in nature, pertaining to a period specified in the FIR, generally referring to deaths of 149 individuals. In other words, neither the statement leading to registration of the FIR nor the documents that have come on record, during the course of investigation, forming part of the charge-sheet, identify individual deaths or sufferance of individuals due to the alleged acts of commission and omission on the part of the applicants," the judge opined.

At this stage, the judge said, it is impossible to understand the connection of the applicants to the death of identified individuals in respect of the offences registered under Sections 302 and 307 of the IPC and on this score itself, the applicants have made out a prima facie case in their favour.

The bench noted the contention of the applicants that being the trustees, they had either marginal or no role to play in the details of engaging medical professionals being supplied to the said hospital run by the BMC as per the contract.

"The applicants before this Court have undergone imprisonment for more than a year. The charge-sheet is already filed. The charge is yet to be framed and considering the volume of the matter, it would be reasonable to conclude that the trial may not commence in the foreseeable future, much less being completed within a reasonable period of time. Hence, the applicants have made out grounds for being enlarged on bail," the judge said while ordering their release on a surety of Rs 50,000 each.

Appearance:

Senior Advocate Ashok Mundargi along with Advocates Shreyansh Mithare, Meghdeep Oak. Anjali Nimbkar, Viral Rathod and Vishwatej Jadhav appeared for the Applicants.

Additional Public Prosecutors RM Pethe and Mayur Sonavane represented the State.

Case Title: Dr Sushant Jadhav vs State of Maharashtra (BA/185/2024)

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