The Hindu : New Delhi News : Complaint against Venugopal referred to CVC

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Thursday, Jan 11, 2007
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Complaint against Venugopal referred to CVC

Staff Reporter

A social activist seeks probe into the allegations regarding financial irregularities

NEW DELHI: The Delhi police has told a court here that they had referred to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) a complaint against the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Director, Dr. P. Venugopal, and others accusing them of financial irregularities by collecting fees from poor patients for providing consumables for surgeries over and above the costs and misappropriating the extra amounts.

The Station House Officer of the Defence Colony police station mentioned this to Metropolitan Magistrate Chandrashekhar in response to the complaint filed by Abdul Mehmud, a social activist, seeking a probe into the allegations.

The Crime Branch of the city police had sent the complaint to the Union Ministry for Health for enquiry, and the Ministry in its report sent to the police said: "The complainant is correct in his statement that the amounts collected for surgeries are not controlled by AIIMS. The amounts collected are controlled and operated by the heads concerned in an unauthorised manner."

The complainant alleged that the amounts collected from the patients were not controlled by AIIMS, and the excess amounts were not returned to them. Instead, the fund was accumulated and operated by the heads concerned, the complainant added.

The complainant had approached the court when the city police failed to take any action on his complaint.

In its letter to the CVC, the police said that: "the enquiry conducted by the Ministry indicates that the officials have allegedly committed financial irregularities and contravene various Sections of the AIIMS Act".

Meanwhile, counsel for the complainant, V. K. Ohri, said the police had just passed the buck to the Commission because they were not interested in registering a case.

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