Patkar moves HC, seeks to quash FIR in Covid irregularities case

Patkar is one of the four partners of the firm Lifeline Hospital Management Services (LHMS) which bagged a ₹38-crore civic contract to supply medical manpower to the Jumbo Covid Centres in Worli and Dahisar during the Covid-19 pandemic

MUMBAI: Businessman Sujit Patkar has approached the Bombay high court seeking to quash the first information report (FIR) registered against him at Azad Maidan police station for alleged irregularities in the BMC Covid-19 centers.

Mumbai: Sujit Patkar arrives at the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office in connection with a money laundering case related to 'irregularities' in the jumbo COVID-19 treatment centers, in Mumbai, Thursday, July 20, 2023. (PTI Photo)(PTI07_20_2023_000299B) (PTI)

Patkar, a close friend of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, who was recently arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), in his petition has claimed that the FIR registered at the behest of BJP leader Kirit Somaiya is frivolous and vexatious and is aimed at gained political mileage.

The petition, filed through advocate Subhash Jha, has claimed that the FIR is not legally valid under the relevant section of the Disaster Management Act and hence directions should be issued to the concerned authorities to refrain from taking coercive action against him.

On Wednesday when the petition came up for hearing before the division bench of justice Nitin Sambre and justice Rajesh Laddha, advocate Subhash Jha informed the bench that a similar petition had been filed against an FIR registered against Patkar at Pune. The bench directed that both the petitions be clubbed together and posted the hearing for August 31.

The petition claims that the allegations made by Somaiya before the magistrate court which resulted in the filing of the FIR by Azad Maidan police station was misconceived as the LHMS had not indulged in any wrongful activities which would have caused a loss to the civic authority of compromised the lives of people who were brought to the Covid-19 centres managed by the firm.

The petition has claimed that Somaiyas allegations that the petitioner (Patkar) had no prior expertise in the field and was given contract by flouting the norms was baseless as the internal inquiry conducted by the civic authority had given him a clean chit and absolved him of any allegations.

Patkar has further claimed in the petition that as he is suffering from various health complications such as depression, anxiety, panic attacks, negative thoughts and hallucinations, the investigation agencies should be refrained from taking any coercive action against him.