PMC Bank fraud: Bombay HC directs jail authorities to get Rakesh Wadhawan admitted to KEM Hospital in 48 hours

Source:-hindustantimes

The Bombay high court (HC) on Tuesday refused the request to transfer Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL) promoter Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan to a private hospital. Instead, the superintendent of Arthur Road Jail has been directed to send Wadhawan to KEM Hospital within 48 hours. Wadhawan is an accused in the case of fraud at Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank and suffering from cancer.

Last week, a special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) had directed jail authorities to transfer Wadhawan to a civic-run hospital after Wadhawan submitted a plea to be admitted to a private medical facility to undergo a colonoscopy and endoscopy. Wadhawan then moved HC with his plea.

A division bench of justices RD Dhanuka and VG Bisht said on Tuesday that Wadhawan should be taken to KEM Hospital for tests and treatment within 48 hours. The bench has directed the civic-run hospital to carry out the necessary medical tests within a week.

Wadhawan’s counsel, senior advocate Amit Desai, said Wadhawan’s health is deteriorating and as a patient of colon cancer, he has been in and out of hospital for the past six months. Desai urged the court to allow Wadhawan be admitted to a private hospital as KEM Hospital has not been able to conduct an endoscopy and colonoscopy on him so far, despite court orders.

HC, however, refused to accede to the request. The same bench also gave the Enforcement Directorate (ED) three days to provide a copy to Wadhawan of its complaint and other documents against him and the other accused in the case filed by the ED.

Wadhawan is among the accused in the case of fraud at PMC Bank, registered by Mumbai Police’s economic offences wing (EOW) on September 30, 2019. An audit conducted by the Reserve Bank of India uncovered 44 loan accounts at PMC Bank that were used to carry out a fraud of Rs. 7,457.49 crore, most of which went to HDIL. The bank had created 21,049 fictitious accounts to ensure its master data tallied with loan disbursal of Rs. 7,457.49 crore.