Tough times are upon Hiranandani Hospital. Just days after their arrest, the CEO and medical director of the hospital have now been stripped of their licences
Tough times are upon Hiranandani Hospital. Just days after their arrest, the CEO and medical director of the hospital have now been stripped of their licences. Three other senior doctors who were arrested along with them have also met the same fate.
A police van ferries the arrested doctors to court; (right) CEO Sujit Chatterjee and the other four have been barred from practice
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Meanwhile, two other doctors from the Powai facility applied for anticipatory bail but their pleas were rejected in court.
While the hospital’s licence to carry out kidney transplants had already been cancelled, the medical licence of all five doctors arrested from Hiranandani — CEO Dr Sujeet Chatterjee, medical director Anurag Naik, Dr Mukesh Shete, Dr Mukesh Shah and Dr Prakash Shetty — were yesterday suspended until further notice.
A senior DHS official confirmed the development and said, “The committee appointed in this case found that the said doctors had breached certain sections of the Human Organ Transplant Act and therefore, it was recommended that their practising licence be suspended.”
As per the rule, the licences can be cancelled for two years, a period that the government can choose to extend. “We are in the process of drafting letters to the doctors concerned, informing them about the decision. It will also be communicated to all hospitals they are attached to. We have found that one of the doctors is attached to as many as nine hospitals. We are hopeful that by early next week, we will complete this task,” the officer added.
Anticipatory bail plea rejected
Even as investigators hint that they are likely to arrest more doctors if found guilty of participating or aiding the kidney racket, two doctors applied for anticipatory bail yesterday. But, their pleas were rejected.
Dr Veena Swelikar (a general surgeon) and Dr Suvin Shetty (consulting pathologist) had moved the Dindoshi sessions court on Thursday seeking pre-arrest bail, saying they had followed the rules while screening the donor and the recipient before the kidney transplant procedure that was busted on July 14.
The operation on the recipient, Brijkishor Jaiswal, was stopped at the last moment as police found that the woman who was donating her kidney to him was not his real wife, contrary to the papers submitted by the duo.
Arguing in favour of the two doctors, defence counsel Brian D’lima, said certain papers had turned out to be forged. He said both doctors had received clearance for the surgical procedure from the hospital authorisation committee and it was not the doctor’s job to find out whether the documents are forged or genuine. The defence also stated that since the duo are full-time doctors, they should be granted relief.
However, the prosecution and the investigating officer argued that the nature of the offence was very serious and they required custodial investigation to unearth the entire alleged racket. Following this, Judge Khwaja Farooq Ahmed turned down the bail pleas of both doctors.
— With Input from Agencies
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