Former Director of Health Department Dr. Ajay Kumar Gupta, who was involved in bribery in the purchase and sale of essential ABG machines and other materials during the Corona period, surrendered in the Vigilance Office on Thursday after the Supreme Court and the High Court rejected his bail plea. Later, the police arrested the accused and produced him in the district court, Chakkar, from where Dr. Gupta has been sent on remand till February 4. Gupta is accused of taking a bribe of Rs 4.25 lakh for the purchase of machines. This scam came to light in Himachal Pradesh last year.
During this an audio also went viral. In this there was a conversation between two people, in which it was said to take lakhs of rupees. At the end of the audio there was talk of giving five lakh rupees. At the time when the allegations of scam were made, Jairam government was in power in Himachal. He ordered an inquiry into the matter and the investigation was handed over to Vigilance.
Dr. Gupta was found guilty in the investigation. It was also found that the accused had sanctioned an amount of Rs 30 lakh for the purchase of life saving machines. In this amount, he had fixed a commission of Rs 85 thousand per machine. Vigilance collected strong evidence against the accused for taking bribe and registered an FIR on 17 September 2022.
Dr. Gupta could not get relief even from the Supreme Court . The apex court had dismissed Gupta’s plea. The court had clarified that if the accused surrenders and applies for regular bail, then his plea should be disposed of expeditiously as per rules.
