The "illegal" Jumbo Covid centre deal would be investigated by the ED; No comments say BMC Commissioner Chahal

The Mumbai Police had filed an FIR in August of last year against a Hospital Management Company and four people for allegedly using forged documents to secure contracts for COVID-19 care facilities. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has now opened an investigation into this matter. Inquiries on the case have allegedly been sent by agency representatives to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), according to sources on Friday. On Monday, sources added, the ED officials are likely to speak with several senior BMC officials.

 

Iqbal Singh Chahal, the BMC Commissioner, declined to comment when reached. An official complaint from a BJP politician led to the registration of the FIR at the Azad Maidan police station. M/s Lifeline Hospital Management Service Firm, Dr. Hemant Ramsharan Gupta, Sujit Mukund Patkar, Sanjay Madanlal Shah, and Raju Nandkumar Salunkhe were all named as defendants in the lawsuit. The plaintiff claimed in his complaint that these individuals defrauded the Mumbai civic body and the general public in order to get contracts from COVID-19 centres using fictitious documentation.

 

The hospital management firm partners allegedly presented a fictitious partnership deed to the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in June 2020 in order to secure contracts for large COVID-19 centres at NSEL, Worli, Mulund, Dahisar (in Mumbai), and Pune without having any prior experience in the medical industry. According to the company, it had submitted invoices for these centres to the BMC and had received Rs 38 crore. These people defrauded the public and the government apparatus for their own personal benefit. According to the FIR, many people died as a result of the alleged negligence of these people.

 

According to the FIR, after verification it was discovered that the staff members and doctors at these COVID-19 centres lacked adequate credentials and failed to treat patients appropriately, causing them to suffer. According to the official, an investigation into the issue is ongoing. The case was registered under Indian Penal Code Sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 304-A (causing death by carelessness), 465, 467, 468, and 471 (all forgeries), and 34 (common intention).