A doctor from a Byculla hospital and its trustee have been convicted and sentenced to one year in jail by a special anti-corruption court for offering bribe to a government doctor to fudge a postmortem report in 2003.
A special anti-corruption court convicted Dr Shakeel Ansari and Mohammed Rasheed Shaikh for attempting to offer a bribe to forensic doctor from LT hospital (Sion hospital), Dr Harish Pathak.
The case related to the death of a labourer, Kabir Mohammed, who fell off an under-construction building at VP Road in April 2003. Kabir was treated in Muslim Ambulance Society for a few days before he succumbed to his injuries.
But Dr Ansari who treated him wrote in his report that the death was natural and due to cardio-respiratory arrest. The police investigating the case then sent the body for postmortem to Sion Hospital. “Apparently there was some negligence on the part of the hospital, because of which they wanted to hush up the matte,” said additional public prosecutor Sheela Jamdar.
On April 29, 2003, Dr Ansari approached Dr Pathak to forge the report for a bribe of Rs20,000. Dr Pathak, however, filed a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Bureau.
On May 2, 2003, Shakeel and Shaikh were caught red-handed by the bureau. They were booked under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, which punishes not just those who seek bribe but individuals who give it as well.
Jamdar examined four witnesses to build up her case, whereas defence lawyer Unnikrishnan examined five defence witnesses.
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