Apollo Hospitals, India’s largest corporate hospital group, has been searched by the investigators of the Income Tax Department. All premises of the hospital group in Chennai and other parts of the country are being searched by the Income Tax Department since Tuesday morning, according to sources in the I-T Department.
Senior I-T officials in Chennai were tight-lipped about the investigation/ search which began early morning on Tuesday. A junior level official who confirmed about the raid refused to draw any conclusions regarding the reasons for the unexpected visit by the I-T officials to the hospital premises.
The Apollo Hospitals is owned by cardiologist Pratap C Reddy (83), a Padma Vibhushan awardee and his four daughters Preeta, Suneetha, Shobhana and Sangita. The hospital, described as an exclusive domain of the rich and powerful, had courted controversy when it was reported that the management had stakes in Aircel, a private telecom giant.
The hospital has been in the radar of various investigation agencies following reports that a close relation of a former Union Minister in the UPA Government had stakes in the hospital group. Srinidhi Chidambaram, daughter-in-law of former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram is a senior consultant in the hospital group.
This is the second time a hospital chain headquartered in Chennai is coming under the investigation. last month saw sleuths of the Enforcement Directorate conducting raids in Vasan Eye Care Hospitals which has branches all over India. The raid was a fallout of a series of investigative articles published by New Indian Express and uthored by S Gurumurthy which charged that Karti, son of P Chidambaram had major stakes in the hospital.
Interestingly, name of Apollo Hospital Group had figured in earlier reports about the Aircel-Maxis money laundering case.