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Absconding doctor
surrenders in Agra
Twenty-three
days after Tehelka exposed Dr SK Gupta — the greedy and corrupt psychiatrist
of the Agra Mental Hospital who took just five thousand bucks to help husbands
dump their wives — finally surrendered in the chief judicial magistrate
Sarvesh Kumar’s court in Agra on July 23.
Gupta, who was caught on camera by Tehelka, gleefully accepting money and
confidently putting his stamp on a false certificate, had been absconding
since July 1. He had moved the Allahabad High Court to get a stay on his
arrest. However, his plea was rejected. He was remanded to judicial custody
till July 27, the day his case was to come up for hearing. The police are
now trying to take Gupta on remand.
Out of his hiding, Gupta claims he was accepting money from his father-in-law
to complete the construction work, presently in progress at his home. His
alibi: “Why was the face of the person who handed over the money to
me not shown?”
Following the Tehelka expose, the National Commission for Women (NCW) had
slammed the Uttar Pradesh government for being insensitive and careless.
The Inquiry Committee appointed by the NCW to inquire into the case found
the administration to be uncooperative. A fir was filed against Gupta only
on July 10, after the team pulled up the Agra SSP.
The Committee recommended to the NCW that a writ petition be filed in the
Supreme Court for and on behalf of the victims, who are too poor or too
scared to fight for their rights.
KTS Tulsi, an eminent lawyer, who was enraged at the expose, is giving final
touches to a Public Interest Litigation to be filed in the Supreme Court
to monitor the investigations and seek damages. Tulsi wants to make the
state government liable for statutory negligence because they are supposed
to constitute the Mental Health Authority. He will demand a compensation
of Rs 1 crore for each victim.
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July 28, 2004
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