TP lahane, the dean of the State-run Sir JJ Group of Hospitals, landed in trouble on Friday, as a special court here recommended to the Bombay High Court to hold contempt proceedings against him for allegedly allowing scam-tainted former Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal to undergo treatment at a private hospital.
Accepting a plea by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) activist Anjali Damania accusing the JJ Hospital and Arthur Road Jail authorities in Mumbai of allowing Bhujbal to be in private hospital, a Special Court set up in Prevention of Money laundering Act (PMlA) referred the matter to the Bombay High Court for initiating contempt proceedings against Dr lahane.
Bhujbal was arrested by the ED on March 14 last year in connection with two money laundering cases registered against him, his family members and associates. He is currently lodged at the Arthur Road Prison. Bhujbals and their associates are being tried in three corruption cases. Maharashtra’s Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) had filed a charge-sheet against Bhujbal, his nephew Sameer and 15 others in the new Maharashtra Sadan scam case in February last year.
The State ACB on March 28 last year filed a second voluminous charge-sheet against him and six others for having allegedly received huge kickbacks to lease a plot of land to a private developer for the construction of a Central library at the Kalina campus of the Mumbai University.
On March 30 last year, the ED filed a 11,500—page charge sheet against Chhagan Bhujbal, his son Pankaj, nephew Sameer, corporate houses like DB Realty, Balwa group of companies, Neelkamal Realtors and Builders Private limited, Neelkamal Central Apartment llP and Kakade Infrastructure, in the money laundering case.
In her plea before the special PMlA court last year, Damania had alleged that Bhujbal had misused the special court’s order and stayed at a private hospital for treatment. Her contention was that the special court had allowed Bhujbal to undergo thallium test in a private hospital.
Damania had contended that while “thallium test hardly takes one hour but Bhujbal was hospitalized in Bombay Hospital” where he overstayed for no reason. She had alleged that Bhujbal misused the court’s orders owing to negligence of the Arthur Road and JJ Hospital authorities.