CBI files chargesheet in RG Kar case, names Sandip Ghosh as prime accused

The CBI on Friday filed a chargesheet in connection with the RG Kar Hospital financial irregularities in which it has named former principal of the medical establishment Sandip Ghosh as the prime accused, an official said.

The Special CBI court at Alipore here, however, did not accept the chargesheet as the official approval required to file a chargesheet against any state government employee was not available, he said.

In the 100-odd page chargesheet, the central probe agency has also named four others who were arrested for alleged involvement in the irregularities, he said.

"Apart from Ghosh (who has been suspended), the chargesheet includes the names of the other four arrested accused - Biplab Singh, Afsar Ali, Suman Hazra and Ashish Pandey. The CBI has also attached at least 1,000 pages of documents in support of their investigation of the case," the officer told PTI.

Another official said: "The West Bengal government needs to approve a chargesheet that has the name of its employee before it is submitted in the court. In this case, the approval has not yet come. Both Ghosh and Pandey are doctors of the state-run hospital.

The chargesheet was filed almost three months after Ghosh was arrested on September 2 in connection with the financial irregularities at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, which grabbed national headlines after the body of an on-duty medic was found in the seminar room in August.

It has been alleged that the financial fraud was underway at the hospital for over three years. During this period, tenders were rigged while purchasing medical equipment for the hospital, and Ghosh allegedly helped his close associates to bag the tenders.

Ghosh was suspended 26 days after the doctor's body medic was found.

On August 23, the Calcutta High Court ordered transfer of the probe into the alleged financial irregularities at RG Kar Hospital from the state-constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT) to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The direction came in response to a petition by former deputy superintendent of the medical facility, Dr Akhtar Ali, who prayed for a probe by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into multiple counts of alleged financial misconduct at the state-run hospital during Ghosh's tenure as principal.

In his plea before the high court, Ali accused Ghosh of illegal sale of unclaimed corpses, trafficking of biomedical waste and passing tenders in lieu of commission paid by medicine and medical equipment suppliers.