Prolonged hospital stays of high-profile accused under cloud

On July 20, a special court while rejecting bail to Pune-based businessman Avinash Bhosale, arrested by the ED and CBI in the DHFL-Radius Group loan case, said that “exceptional punctuality” was shown by the jail superintendent of Arthur Road jail whenever Bhosale complained of any medical issue.

“It is a fact that in Arthur Road Jail, many accused persons fell ill but could not get treatment in proper time. They have to apply to the court… when the court directs with specific compliance, only then the other ill prisoners are taken to the hospital. However, regarding the applicant (Bhosale), exceptional punctuality has been shown by the Jail Superintendent,” special Judge MG Deshpande said in the order.

The court also said that it was constrained to note that the maximum period since Bhosale’s arrest in May last year, was spent in hospital and he was in jail for a shorter period.

In January, the CBI raised the issue on Bhosale’s stay at civic hospital, St George, saying he was admitted from October 2022 and it was necessary to verify whether he required further hospitalisation. It sought for the setting up of an independent board with members of a Navy or Army Hospital.

While the court said that in the absence of any grounds to doubt state-run hospitals, it could not pass such an order and directed that all tests be conducted on him within three days and he be discharged. The court also made a note of how Bhosale was shifted to the hospital without it being informed.

In another case, involving DHFL promoter Dheeraj Wadhawan, a special court on July 13 noted that he had misused a previous order and continued a “long, luxurious hospitalisation” for 11 months. The court said that in April 2021, Wadhawan was permitted by another court to take treatment at a private hospital for his health but the stay was prolonged for 11 months. The court said that such treatment was “beyond the reach of ordinary people”.

In March 2022, two courts issued notices to the hospital and jail authorities seeking an explanation for Wadhawan’s 11-month stay at the hospital. The private hospital said that he was undergoing continuous treatment for nearly a year and could be discharged in two weeks. The Bombay High Court subsequently permitted Wadhawan to undergo surgery at the hospital, following which he was discharged.

During the same period, the jail authorities also sent a letter to the court about the hospital stay of co-accused Kapil Wadhawan, Dheeraj Wadhwan’s brother. The letter said that he, too, was admitted at KEM, a public hospital. The court also issued notices in March 2022 to the hospital to explain the stay, following which the hospital discharged Kapil the next day.

In the order last week, the special court referred to this and said that both the hospitals where the Wadhawan brothers were admitted “realised the seriousness and consequences” of the hospitalisation they have been giving to both accused and “…in a dread of divulgence, both hospitals and their managements immediately discharged both accused”, the court said.

“Had the court not intervened as such, no one was sure until how many days/years, both of them would have continued their luxurious stay in those hospitals,” the court added. In these cases, the courts observed that the accused were facing serious charges of allegedly laundering crores of rupees of public money for their personal benefit.

In another case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) approached the court against the hospital stay of retired ACP Pradeep Sharma, who was arrested by the agency in 2021 for his alleged involvement in the Antilia terror scare and Mansukh Hiran murder case.

The NIA said that since his arrest in June 2021, Sharma had been admitted to the Sassoon Hospital, a public hospital in Pune, for over 250 days, from time to time and that he was misusing hospitalisation to avoid jail. The agency in January sought that a medical board be set up following which the court directed one to be formed.

The Board said that Sharma did not need further hospitalisation and could be discharged, following which he was discharged in January. In June, the NIA again informed the court that Sharma was admitted back to the hospital and sought a report. Currently, Sharma is on interim bail granted by the Supreme Court in June for taking care of his ailing wife.