NEW DELHI: An Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court on Saturday summoned two former personal staff members of the slain Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pramod Mahajan and six doctors of the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital here to appear on January 12 in connection with the Rahul Mahajan drug abuse case.

Taking cognisance of the police charge sheet against Sudhanshu Mittal and Harish Sharma for allegedly destroying evidence and giving false information to the investigating agency, Chief Magistrate Kamini Lau directed the police to invoke Sections 193 (false evidence) and 177 (furnishing false information) of the Indian Penal Code.

The doctors summoned are Anupam Sibal, Prasad Rao, Awdesh Bansal, Mukund Pandey, Ali Mohammed Ganai and Abha Gupta.

The charge sheet alleged that the doctors abetted in Mittal and Sharma giving misleading information on the health of Rahul Mahajan, son of the BJP leader, when he was admitted to the hospital in a critical condition in the early hours of June 2, after he had consumed a cocktail of drugs.

The police have chargesheeted Rahul Mahajan under Sections 21 (possession of drugs), 25 (allowing use of premises for commission of an offence), 27 (illegal possession in small quantity for personal consumption of any narcotic drug), 27A (financing illicit traffic and harbouring offenders), and 29 (abetment and criminal conspiracy) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

We did no wrong: hospital

Meanwhile, the hospital reiterated that it did no wrong in the Rahul Mahajan drug case.

"The public and the court have heard just one side of the story and we welcome the opportunity to bring forth the facts of the case," a hospital statement said.

"The hospital saved the life of a young man which was the prime objective of the healthcare provider," the statement said without naming Rahul Mahajan.

"Saving people's lives is inherent to the ethos and culture of the hospital. It is paramount when we are faced with situations where a split second decision can make the difference between life and death."

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