Doctor couple, five others sentenced for amassing assets

An Anti Corruption Bureau court here today sentenced a doctor couple to seven years of rigorous imprisonment for misusing government post and amassing assets more than their known sources of income.

A fine of Rs 50 lakh each was also imposed on them, Assistant Director of Prosecution (ADP), ACB court, Ahsaan Ahmad said.

The court also sentenced in-laws of R P Sharma named Tejkaran Sharma, Chandrakanta Sharma, to three years of imprisonment and five years jail term to family members Geetanjali Sharma, Kishangopal Sharma and one other Aslam Pathan involved in manipulating the money with the couple, he said, adding that each of the five were also fined Rs 5 lakh.

The in-laws were granted bail as they were 93 and 90 years-old while the five convicted were sent to the jail today, he said.

The ACB court seized the private hospital owned by the couple in Kota and directed the government to acquire the hospital, Ahmad said.

It is perhaps the first case of conviction where the court ordered for acquisition of a private hospital, the ADP said.

R P Sharma served as a medical officer in Kota from 1982 to 1998 and during this period, he had set up a fake company and research centre with fake share holders of the company, he said.

During this period, he earned an amount over Rs 55 lakh.

The ASP, ACB, Jaipur during investigation found assets of over Rs 33 lakh more than the known sources of income, following which the ASP, ACB, Jaipur in 2003 lodged a case against the doctor couple and six others, he added.

One of the accused in the matter had died during the trial in the court.