Gurgaon's Medanta Hospital is among the country's finest healthcare centres
A money-laundering case has been filed against renowned cardiologist Dr Naresh Trehan and others in connection with the allotment of land for the Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon. Enforcement Directorate filed the case based on a First Information Report (FIR) by the Gurgaon Police, which was filed last week. The hospital -- which is among the country's finest healthcare centres -- has said the FIR was due to "an individual who has managed to get news space with irresponsible and frivolous accusations, without any scrutiny of his claims."
"This is the same case which is handed over to ED Delhi by the Gurugram Police. Complainant Raman Sharma is a known extortionist. The complaint is nothing but harassment by him who has chosen to file this complaint while we are in midst of a global pandemic," news agency ANI quoted Dr Trehan as saying.
Raman Sharma, who claims to be an RTI activist, has alleged that the land, acquired by the government in 2004, was allotted to Medanta and its co-founder Dr Trehan by officials who bent the rules.
In a statement yesterday, the hospital said, "Extortionists have found a fertile breeding ground, while claiming to be RTI activists. The fact that the allegations in his complaint pertain to the 16-year-old land allotment on which the hospital is built demonstrates this".
Raman Sharma, the hospital said, was accused of extortion and named in a police complaint in 2015.
Calling his allegations "absurd", the hospital said "what has been overlooked is that Raman Sharma had previously filed two cases, identical to this one, in Delhi, one in Patiala House Court and one in the Delhi High Court".
Both the cases, the hospital said, were dismissed, with the judge calling the allegations "vague" and "unspecific".
After failing in the courts in Delhi, Mr Sharma approached the District Court in Gurugram. There, by withholding information about his failed earlier attempts to get a case filed, he "mischievously misled the court into passing an Order in his favour, which should never have been passed," the hospital said.