A SESSIONS court on Friday directed the Mumbai Police Economic Offences Wing (EOW) to not take any coercive action against Sujit Patkar, who is a close aide of Sena MP Sanjay Raut, in connection with its probe in the Covid Jumbo centre scam. Patkar had, this week, approached the court with an anticipatory bail plea. The court on Friday directed the agency to not take any coercive action till the next date on July 11, when it will continue to hear his plea. "The applicant (Patkar) is strictly directed not to take advantage of this order and cooperate with the investigation," the court said. The ED this week conducted searches at various places in a connected case of money-laundering, wherein premises including Patkar's were searched. The EOW has claimed irregularities in the dealings of a firm called Lifeline Hospital Management Services, where Patkar is a partner. This firm had been given a contract by BMC to provide healthcare services at some Jumbo Covid Centres in 2020. In his plea, Patkar has said that a committee of experts drawn from different sections of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) or BMC, had found no wrongdoing by his firm. It was submitted that Patkar is perceived to be very close to the political party which is in power in Maharashtra, and he cannot be made to face such a 'frivolous prosecution' only because of his political affiliation. The EOW while opposing the plea said that Patkar had assured partners of the firm that BMC would give their firm the tender to provide medical services to Covid-19 Jumbo Centres in 2020. The EOW claimed that Patkar had given a letter to the then additional municipal commissioner Sanjeev Jaiswal on June 19, 2020, expressing his interest in providing medical services to Jumbo centres, even before the BMC published an Expression of Intent (EOI) or issued tenders inviting bids for services for the centres. Further, it was claimed that the company was formed only on June 26, 2020, while Patkar had used the company's letterhead on June 19, 2020, expressing the intent to provide the services. The company was formed after BMC invited tenders between June 23–26, 2020 for the services, the EOW has alleged. The agency also claimed that false information about the company was provided, wherein it was claimed that it had prior experience in providing such medical services, and a false partnership agreement too was submitted while bidding, claimed the EOW. The Pune civic authority, which had granted the contract to the company, had terminated it on September 9, 2020, but the company failed to mention it to BMC, the EOW said. The police unit also said that it wanted to probe cash transactions of the firm, including the transfer of Rs 87.31 lakh to a co-accused from the company's account. The EOW had arrested two persons earlier this year, linked to the case, and a chargesheet was filed against them in April. At the time of the FIR, the EOW had added the section 304 (A) of the Indian Penal Code alleging that the company had not followed guidelines or terms and conditions of the contract by BMC, leading to deaths of patients undergoing treatment at Covid-19 centres. At the time of filing the chargesheet in the case in April, the agency dropped the charge along with another charge of forgery, stating that it had no evidence related to it. On July 11, the court will continue to hear arguments on the pre-arrest bail plea.
