Delhi HC orders Crime Branch inquiry against city doctor who ‘helps prisoners get bail’

New Delhi, July 1: The Delhi High Court has asked the Crime Branch of Delhi Police to conduct an inquiry against a city-based doctor who is suspected of handing out fake medical certificates to family members of accused persons in order to help them get bail.

The alleged fraud by Delhi-based Dr Gajinder Kumar Nayyar has been taken note of by at least three high court judges — Justices Sanjeev Sachdeva, Anup Bhambhani and Suresh Kumar Kait, The Print reported.

According to an order issued by Justice Sachdeva Monday, the matter came to light when the court was hearing a bail petition by Abdul Rehman, an attempt-to-murder accused. Rehman had submitted that his wife was suffering from ovarian cyst and needed urgent surgery, according to a prescription given by Dr Nayyar.

But the Delhi Police soon found that medical records of the hospital, mentioned in the prescription and one of many where Dr Nayyar works, did not list Rehman’s wife as a patient. The police also pointed out to the court that the hospital didn’t have any ultrasound facility to perform cystectomy surgery.

The report submitted to the court claimed that Rehman’s wife seemed to have never visited the hospital.

Further inquiry by the Delhi Police also revealed other cases in which Dr Nayyar had issued medical certificates to family members of accused, helping them get bail, interim bail or suspension of their sentences. The police also found that Dr Nayyar’s registration had been cancelled twice in the past, after a trial court found certificates issued by him to be fake.

Apart from the Crime Branch, the high court has also asked the Delhi Police’s legal cell and the Directorate of Prosecution, Delhi, to look into their records from the past two years and check the cases in which Dr Nayyar’s medical certificates had been used.

The court has clarified that if the allegations are found to be true, the Crime Branch can proceed with the case without waiting for its order.

Justice Sachdeva has also directed that copies of the order be passed to all high court and district court judges. The case will next be heard on 16 July.

The first hearing for Rehman’s bail application had come up on 8 May. Following this, a status report was submitted by the prosecution on 8 June in which five more cases where Dr Nayyar had allegedly given ‘fake certificates’ were listed.

Some of those who were issued these certificates have been charged with murder, attempt to murder and under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. One of these accused, the report says, who was granted bail by the Saket Court had jumped parole and has since not been re-arrested.

The report also asserts the possibility of a larger “syndicate” and said: “From the verification conducted so far, it can be elucidated that Dr Nayyar has been found to have issued several certificates in various serious criminal cases and accused persons are taking plea on its basis. Further probability that Dr Nayyar is part of such syndicate (if any) cannot be ruled out at this stage.”

The status report also said that Dr Nayyar’s registration had been suspended twice by the Delhi Medical Council.

In March 2019, the Council had revoked his licence for 180 days after receiving a complaint from a Delhi district judge in November 2017. The judge reported Dr Nayyar after noticing that the latter had issued a fake prescription to help one murder accused get bail. In October 2019, the Council had again suspended the doctor’s registration for 365 days. So he is officially barred from practicing till November this year.

But during the hearing Monday, Justice Sachdeva was informed that Dr Nayyar continues to practice and has been issuing medical certificates that are being used in various courts for bail pleas.

Additional Public Prosecutor Tarang Srivastava told ThePrint that Nayyar has issued medical certificates to family members of those accused in some “very serious cases”.

“These are cases in which bail would not normally be entertained,” he added.

Srivastava had raised an alarm before Justices Sachdeva and Bhambhani. Justice Bhambhani is hearing a bail application filed by one Nakul Khari — a triple murder-accused in an honour killing case. Khari has sought bail on the basis of a prescription by Dr Nayyar recommending a fibroid uterus surgery for the accused’s mother.

While the complainant in the honour killing case has been granted police protection, officials have cautioned against Khari being granted parole or bail because of his “threat perception”.

Khari’s co-accused had committed two more murders while out on bail and has being absconding.

When Srivastava told Justice Bhambhani that the medical certificates issued by Dr Nayyar in two other cases were found to be suspicious, Khari’s lawyer tried to withdraw the bail application. The court has not allowed it and demanded relevant documents against Dr Nayyar. It has also been alleged that Dr Nayyar could be involved in passport forgery and trafficking of children. The court has noted that similar allegations were being heard by Justices Sachdeva and Kait, and posted the case for hearing on 6 July.