New Delhi, Aug 19: A Delhi Court granted four weeks’ interim bail on medical grounds to Dr Vatsala Aggarwal, former Director General of Health Services, who was arrested in an alleged Rs 700-crore medical procurement scam.
Rouse Avenue court had rejected the regular bail plea of Dr Vinod Kumar Ranga, an ex-Central Procurement Agency official, and a co-accused in the case.
Opposing the relief, Anti-Corruption Branch argued that Aggarwal’s ailments were related to her age and none was life-threatening or severe enough to warrant an interim bail.
The accused is suffering from multiple ailments, including hypertension, diabetes mellitus type 2, bronchial asthma, lower backache and right shoulder pain, frequent breathing difficulty and palpitation,” the court held, adding she required “continuous proper medical care, and treatment under the supervision of medical experts.”
Regarding Ranga, the court observed that he had pressured officials working at various posts in the office of CPA & as part of a criminal conspiracy hatched by him and the co-accused.
ACB opposed his bail plea, citing “destruction of evidence” and an ongoing investigation into a “larger financial conspiracy”. The court noted alleged irregularities in the tender process, including increasing quantities of medical items after limited quantities were shown on Government e-Marketplace, manually placing purchase orders with L-1 bidders and allegedly bypassing prescribed procedures.
It observed that such steps were taken to discourage manufacturers and other entities from participating in the tender process. On Ranga, the court said his alleged conduct had caused loss to the tune of several hundreds of crores to the state exchequer, severe damage to the health system of GNCT and weakened public faith in the administration.
Court added that there is no gainsaying that the applicant/accused was holding a responsible position, and that his alleged acts constitute economic offences & added that, considering the allegations, gravity of offences, Ranga’s alleged role and the stage of investigation, he was not entitled to bail at this stage.
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