Thread by @barandbench

Aurangabad Bench of #BombayHighCourt to hear plea seeking criminal cognizance into the procurement and distribution of #Remdesivir vials by BJP MP Dr. Sujay Vikhe Patil.

#RemdesivirBlackMarketing

Hearing before Bench of Justices RV Ghuge and BU Debadwar.

Thread to previous hearing:

https://twitter.com/barandbench/status/1387639720499245058?s=20

Hearing begins.

Sr Adv Shirish Gupte representing Patil seeks to intervene in the plea. He submits that various allegations are being made against him without making him a party.

#RemdesivirBlackMarketing #BombayHighCourt

Gupte: A tedious order was passed in the previous hearing and the plea was converted into a writ petition. And I am opposing the prayers in the petition.

#RemdesivirBlackMarketing #BombayHighCourt

Court: We want to find out what has the Superintendent of Police done regarding the boxes of the injection so that they can be put to good use.

#RemdesivirBlackMarketing #BombayHighCourt

Gupte: I will answer each and every question of this Court. But I need to be brought on record. I have account of each and every injection submitted.

#RemdesivirBlackMarketing #BombayHighCourt

Court: We have not yet passed any order. These petitioners have not approached the police.

Gupte: They have approached milords.

Court: Ok first of all, how many vials in each box?

Gupte: 80 vials in each box, total 1700 injections were given to the civil surgeon.

Court: We were informed by the District collector that these vials were from Pune.

Gupte: No

Court: So we can take it that we were mislead on the previous occasion.

#RemdesivirBlackMarketing #BombayHighCourt

Gupte: Let me clarify. The manufacturer was from Chandigarh. He said he can only give us 500 vials. People were dying in my hospital.

#RemdesivirBlackMarketing #BombayHighCourt

Gupte: In between the first order of April 22 and April 26, the petitioner went to the police station and filed his complaint. And then he comes and says his complaint was not registered.

#RemdesivirBlackMarketing #BombayHighCourt

Gupte: Ex-parte order is sought for filing of FIR which is itself against the law.

#RemdesivirBlackMarketing #BombayHighCourt

Court: Mr kale regarding compliance...

Chief Public Prosecutor DR Kale for the state submits the statement of the Home Secretary and the Superintendent.

Kale: In the superintendent report, he says only 1 box was there.
He says those medicines were used by hospitals.

Court: Direction was you will tell us where these boxes are.

Gupte: May I answer and it is documented?

Gupte: There are receipts of total 1700 vials, receipt signed by civil. surgeon. They are issued to us under COllector’s order.
We have paid over 14 lakhs.

Court: So you purchased these vials from Pune?

Kale: Yes.
1700 injections were ordered, from Chandigarh we got these 15 boxes.
Surgeon did not have them, so we ordered from the manufacturer.

Kale submits that the distributor was in Pune. But then the manufacturer was in Chandigarh and since he could not transport, it was airlifted.

Adv Pradnya Talekar submits that these documents were created as an afterthought, and that showed that an offence of perjury was also committed.

Court states that they will hear the plea through special hearing on Wednesday.

Court pulls up the Collector’s act when the prosecutor submits that the Collector was not aware when the MP comes to their office and his inaction on the claims in the press.

Gupte submits that the litigation has damaged the reputation of the MP’s office and his hospital.

Court: Then your client should have thought of that when he was taking pictures and putting it on social media claiming he is using his contacts and working for the people.

We will hear this plea on Wednesday. We are not passing orders in haste. We have not made up our mind.

Court records the submissions.

500 injections came from Pharma distributor from Pune and 1200 from Chandigarh. The fact situation before us today is that civil surgeon deposited the amount to Pharma-Deal. the amount with the civil surgeon came from Vikhe Patil Foundation.

Court: Today though we have not heard the IA of Patil, the submissions of Gupte states that the applicant had picked up a stock of medicines from Chandigarh.

Gupte: We have placed order to civil surgeon, they passed it to the distributor inPune.

Court: Since the order could not be transferred within 5-6 days, the order was picked up from Chandigarh to Shirdi airport.

An affidavit has been filed by Petitioners indicating that backdated records are now being prepared by government authorities.

Court: and it is now attempted to be shown that there is no irregularities in the purchase. We are listing this at May 5, 2021 at 11 am.

Adv Talekar submits that she has filed another criminal application which seeks to bring on record more details of other ex-MPs and ex-MLAs.

Gupte opposes the plea, calls it unnecessary expansion of the present plea.

Kale: This is unnecessary expanding the scope of a writ petition which is against one person.

Talekar: In fact the state should not be opposing such prayers and making it adversarial litigation.

Court: in fact even we think the State is treating this petition as adversarial litigation which they should not have been.

Court records that the Ahmednagar police was asked to trace the boxes in the previous hearing.

Court records that the MP had brought in only 1200 vials of Remdesivir. It was never claimed by him that he had brought in 10000 vials as is being claimed by the press.

Hearing ends.

Matter placed for hearing on May 5, 2021 at 11 am.