New Delhi: A Delhi court Tuesday granted four weeks’ interim bail on medical grounds to Dr Vatsala Aggarwal, former Director General of Health Services (DGHS), who was arrested in an alleged Rs 700-crore medical procurement scam.On Monday, the Rouse Avenue court had rejected the regular bail plea of Dr Vinod Kumar Ranga, an ex-Central Procurement Agency (CPA) official, and a co-accused in the case. The order was made available Tuesday.Citing Aggarwal’s need for “urgent and constant medical intervention”, high blood pressure, palpitations and breathing difficulty, special judge Vidya Prakash granted the relief on “humanitarian ground”, subject to her furnishing a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh with two sureties.The defence submitted that the 61-year-old’s ECG report was abnormal and that she had been advised a Holter test at Safdarjung Hospital’s cardiology department, with the scheduled date in next Feb — a delay it termed unrealistic as there was “imminent threat to her life”.Opposing the relief, Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) argued that Aggarwal’s ailments were related to her age and none was life-threatening or severe enough to warrant an interim bail.“The accused is suffering from multiple ailments, including hypertension, diabetes mellitus type 2, bronchial asthma, lower backache and right shoulder pain, frequent breathing difficulty and palpitation,” the court held, adding she required “continuous proper medical care, and treatment under the supervision of medical experts.”Regarding Ranga, the court observed that he had “pressured officials working at various posts in the office of CPA… as part of a criminal conspiracy hatched by him and the co-accused.”While the defence argued that Ranga followed all standard administrative procedures and the case lacked evidence of a direct bribe, ACB opposed the bail plea, citing “destruction of evidence” and an ongoing investigation into a “larger financial conspiracy”.The court noted alleged irregularities in the tender process, including increasing quantities of medical items after limited quantities were shown on Government e-Marketplace, manually placing purchase orders with L-1 bidders and allegedly bypassing prescribed procedures. It observed that such steps were taken to “discourage manufacturers and other entities from participating” in the tender process.On Ranga, the court said his alleged conduct had “caused loss to the tune of several hundreds of crores to the state exchequer, severe damage to the health system of GNCT” and weakened public faith in the administration. It added, “There is no gainsaying that the applicant/accused was holding a responsible position, and that his alleged acts constitute economic offences”.The court concluded that, considering the allegations, gravity of offences, Ranga’s alleged role and the stage of investigation, he was not entitled to bail “at this stage”.
