SC dismisses doctors' plea in Rahul Mahajan case

SC dismisses doctors' plea in Rahul Mahajan case The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition filed by six Indraprashtha Apollo hospital doctors and five others seeking quashing of the criminal proceedings launched against them in the Rahul Mahajan drug abuse case. A bench of Justices A K Mathur and Aftab Alam directed the petitioners to approach the trial court for relief. Eleven Apollo staffers including six doctors, who were charged with misleading the investigation and tampering with the evidence, in a special leave petition (SLP) before the apex court sought quashing of the FIR which was registered by the police at Sarita Vihar police station following ACMM's orders in June 2006. Earlier in February this year, the Delhi High Court had rejected the petitioners' submission that their names have not figured in the main FIR lodged against Mahajan and five others for drugs abuse and criminal conspiracy, following which they had come on an SLP in the Supreme Court. The hospital staffs have alleged that the investigation in the second FIR was mala fide as SHO, Tughlak Road, was already investigating into the main case and the investigations launched against them by the Sarita Vihar police was "discriminatory" and "arbitrary" in nature. The case was registered with an ulterior motive to damage the reputation of the hospital, they claimed. Rahul Mahajan, son of late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, was admitted to hospital on 1st June, 2006 following alleged drug consumption. Apollo doctors had given a report stating that the toxic screen of Mahajan was negative, however the CFSL report had clearly established that both Rahul and Vivek Moitra (who died in the hospital) had consumed morphin (heroin) and cocaine on the fateful night, the police has claimed. On 8th June, 2006 the police had registered a second FIR against the medical staff of the hospital alleging the doctors at the hospital had misled the investigation and fabricated the report relating to Mahajan's treatment which was sought by the police. Filing a chargesheet on 30th October, 2006, police had named five doctors Mukul Pandey (Chief Medical Officer), Ali Mohammed Ganai, Prasad Rao, Abha Gupta and Anupam Sibbal under sections 182 (false information giving to public servants), 201 (disappearance of evidence), 120-B (criminal conspiracy). The police also chargesheeted six other hospital staff including the DGM Raji Chandru.

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