On Saturday, a First Information Report (FIR) was reportedly lodged at Gurgaon Sadar police station against cardiologist Naresh Trehan and 15 others, including private companies and unnamed Harayana Government authorities on charges of corruption, forgery, criminal conspiracy, and money laundering and 7 other counts in the land allotment case of Medanta Hospital.
Naresh Trehan who is the co-founder of Medanta Hospital is also is the husband of NewsLaundry founder Madhu Trehan and the brother-in-law of Aroon Purie, the founder of India Today Group. The six-page FIR was registered against him and others on the directions of Addition Session Judge Ashwani Kumar, following the complaint of one Raman Sharma, a resident of Malibu Town.
The accused have been booked on 11 charges under Sections 120B, 406, 463, 467, 468, and 471 Indian Penal Code (IPC), Prevention of Money-laundering Act (PMLA), and Prevention of the Corruption Act. According to police officials, the case pertains to irregularities in the 53-acre land allotment case for Medicity for which locals were ousted in 2004.
Details of the Case
As per the FIR, Naresh Trehan, who was the major promotor of the project, lacked the financial capacity to complete the ₹900 crore project. The complainant alleged that the government did not appoint officials from the Health Department on the board of the hospital to inquire into the finances of the accused. As per reports, the complainant alleged that the subscribed value of Global Health Private Limited (GHP) was just 10% of the amount committed by Trehan.
The FIR alleged that Trehan conspired with two private firms, created a shell company, issued partly paid shares to GHP and granted full rights to the said firms without government permission. The complainant also stated that the accused flouted the advertisement terms in pursuit of his personal agenda. Reportedly, Trehan, in collusion with unnamed officials, obtained Occupational Certificate based on ‘misrepresentation’ and di not allow competitors to bid for the project.
Complainant approaches Courrt
The said project that began in 2004 did not reach its conclusion even after 15 years. As such, Raman Sharma filed a complaint with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on June 24, 2019. However, since no adequate progress happened in the case, Sharma approached the Court which in turn rejected his application.
Recently, the complainant learnt that the ED had forwarded the complaint to the Harayana police but an FIR was not registered in the case. On approaching the district court alleging that several documents were not available in public domain, Sharma was successful in getting an FIR registered within 24 hours, on the orders of the Court. According to Station House Officer (SHO) of Gurgaon Sadar, the case is being probed by senior officers.
Medanta denies claims
Medanta has refuted the charges calling them baseless and motivated. A spokesperson representing the hospital claimed that the allegations in this complaint are completely false, baseless, and motivated.
Others implicated in the case include SAS Infotech, Dunearn Investments (Mauritius), GL Asia Mauritius, Global Infracon, Punj Lloyd, chief administrator, administrator, and Estate Officers-2 of Haryana Urban Development Corporation (HUDA) in Gurgaon, and the director of General Health Services.
