Delhi police register FIR against Apollo Hospital

New Delhi, June 9: The city police today registered an FIR against Apollo Hospital for its alleged failure to cooperate with the police in connection with the drug abuse case involving late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan's son Rahul and five others.

The action comes after a city court permitted the police to go after the hospital on charges of 'cover up'.

The FIR was registered at the Sarita Vihar Police Station in South Delhi against the hospital under Section 182 (omission to assist public servant when bound by law to give assistance) of the Indian Penal Code, but it did not name any doctor as yet, police said.

Police had alleged that Appolo hospital had tried to supress and delay information relating to the case.

''There was a deliberate attempt to stop information from reaching police to jeopardise the process of law,'' Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Manish Agarwal said.

False information was given to the police regarding Rahul's health, besides there were also irregularities in the hospital's entry register, he said.

The hospital's records in connection with the case would be seized, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (South Delhi) Sanjay Kumar said.

Yesterday, the Delhi police had filed an application in a city court seeking permission to file an FIR against the management of Apollo hospital for allegedly giving false information to the police.

Appearing before the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kamini Lau, Investigating Officer M Singh moved an application under section 182 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which provides for prosecution of a person(s) making a false statement.

The law requires that in case of a non-cognizable offence the police needs to seek magisterial consent to file an FIR against any accused person or party.

Ms Lau in her order allowed the investigating agency to file an FIR against the management of Apollo hospital for giving false information regarding the drug content in Rahul Mahajan's body.

Meanwhile, Apollo Hospital denied allegations of fudging facts and tampering with evidence. The focus and priority of Apollo and the team of attending doctors had been to revive and save the life of the patient (Rahul Mahajan), a statement said. ''It is emphasized that the hospital has been able to save the life of a critical patient with prompt, correct and efficient management of the patient by a team of qualified senior doctors,'' it said.

Apollo maintained that it had fully cooperated with the police investigations and also provided all the records and information sought by the investigating agency.

UNI

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