Ready for punishment, will help people even if I face thousand PILs: Gautam Gambhir

“Whatever the court decides, we will accept it. But whenever I get an opportunity in the future to help people, I will do it because saving people’s lives is the meaning of politics,” he said.

The Delhi High Court had Monday directed Delhi’s Drugs Control Department to launch a probe into Gambhir’s procurement of Fabiflu strips in large quantities when everything was in “short supply.”

The court asked the drug controller to file a status report regarding the investigation within a week. For this, it ordered the Delhi Police — currently handling the investigation of Covid-19 drugs hoarding by politicians — to handover relevant material to the drug controller.

Speaking at the Delhi BJP office, Gambhir said he was ready to face any punishment.

Taking aim at the Delhi government, he said, “Questions should also be asked why medicines were not available at shops in Delhi and why there was a shortage of hospital beds and oxygen in the city. I joined politics to serve the people, which is what I did.”

The PIL being heard in court was filed by one Deepak Singh, and apart from Gambhir, it named several other politicians including AAP’s Dilip Pandey and Youth Congress leader Srinivas SN. While police had told the court no case of fraud was made out against the political leaders, the court was not satisfied with the response. It has, in particular, been critical of Gambhir procuring the drug in large quantities.

“Gautam Gambhir must have done it with the best of intentions. We are not doubting his intentions. He has been a national player of our country. Our question is whether it is responsible behaviour when you know the medicine is in short supply,” the court had observed.

On the court’s observations, Gambhir said at the press conference that he will do everything needed to save the lives of people and that humanity is the greatest “dharma” for him.