Bombay High Court grants bail to Dr Kishore Bisure in jumbo Covid centre scam
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted bail to Dr Kishore Bisure, one of the accused in the alleged Jumbo Covid Centre contract scam.
Dr Bisure was former Dean of the Dahisar Jumbo Covid-19 Centre and was picked up by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case related to the alleged misappropriation of Rs 38 crore in public funds.
Dr Bisure was arrested on July 19, 2023, and the case against him stems from an alleged scam involving Lifeline Hospital Management Services, a company accused of securing a contract for two Jumbo Covid-19 centres through fraudulent means and submitting fabricated invoices for medical services.
According to the prosecution, Dr Bisure played a key role in clearing these fraudulent invoices and allegedly received kickbacks amounting to Rs 20 lakhs in cash and kind. The ED claimed that he approved attendance sheets that exaggerated staffing levels at the Dahisar Jumbo Covid Centre, leading to inflated bills submitted to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
However, the court questioned the basis of these allegations, noting that the “Chargesheet encloses statements of co-accused which is the sole basis of the allegation so as to come to the conclusion that illegal proceeds of the crime under the contract were routed to Dr Bisure via his driver once again” and this will be a matter to be decided during trial, however, no recovery has been made till date.
Justice Jadhav, while granting bail, noted that Dr Bisure had been in custody for nearly a year and seven months, and besides taking cognisance of the case, no substantial progress had been made in the trial and charges are yet to be framed. The bench directed him to be released on a Rs 1 lakh bond with strict conditions, including monthly appearances before the ED and surrendering his passport.
Advocate Niranjan Mundargi appearing for Dr Bisure pointed out that he was not named in the original FIR or the initial ECIR but was added later in the supplementary chargesheet.
Mundargi also highlighted inconsistencies in the case, noting that invoices were verified by multiple officials before reaching Bisure for approval. Mundargi argued that Bisure was Dean of Dahisar centre only for five months between July 9, 2020 and December 27, 2020, and he had no role to play in functioning of the hospital after the said period. He added that while no other deans of the centres were arrested, the agency had used ‘pick and choose’ policy to arrest him.
The court ‘prima facie’ found “no material” substantiating prosecution’s allegation of Bisure aiding fraudulent activities of the Lifeline services and noted that no recovery of amounts has been made from him till date.
