19 months after arrest, former dean of COVID-19 Jumbo Centre gets bail from Bombay High Court

Bombay High Court. File Pic

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted bail to Dr Kishore Bisure, former dean at a COVID-19 Jumbo Centre in Mumbai's Dahisar area who was arrested in 2023 by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with alleged irregularities during the pandemic, reported news agency PTI.

The allegation against Bisure is that as the then-dean of the Mumbai civic body-run medical facility, he had received valuable items for clearing fake attendance sheets at the treatment centre for COVID-19 patients during the pandemic, reported PTI.

A single-judge bench of Justice Milind N Jadhav on Wednesday noted Bisure was arrested on July 19, 2023, and had been in custody since then.

The Bombay High Court observed there had been no substantial progress in the trial and even charges in the case were yet to be framed.

The Bombay High Court also highlighted a prima facie delay in filing the complaint in the case.

The prosecution has cited 82 witnesses to be examined in the case "making the conclusion of the trial in the near future unlikely", the Bombay High Court averred while granting bail to the senior physician on a surety of Rs 1 lakh, reported PTI.

As per the ED, between July 2020 and February 2022, irregularities in the functioning of two COVID-19 centres in Dahisar and Worli, operated by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), had led to wrongful gain and proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs 32.44 crore to Lifeline Hospital Management Services, which was given the contract to provide medical services to these facilities, reported PTI.

The central agency had launched its probe into the case pursuant to an FIR lodged with the Mumbai police by former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya alleging irregularities in expenditure during the pandemic.

The high court noted that while the police FIR was lodged in August 2022, the ED registered its case under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act only in November 2022, reported PTI.

"A prima facie delay in filing the complaint is evident," the HC noted, reported PTI.

Bisure, in his bail plea, said he was the dean of the Dahisar centre only for five months - between July 9, 2020, and December 27, 2020 -- and he had no role to play in the functioning of the temporary hospital after the said period.

He argued that while no other deans of similar COVID-19 centres were apprehended, the central agency had used a "pick and choose" policy to arrest him.

(With inputs from PTI)