Bail to 1 of 5 AMRI directors

The Calcutta High Court on Friday granted bail to RS Agarwal, one of the directors of AMRI Hospital on the ground that he had not attended any Board meeting in the year 2011. The non attendance at the board meeting established that Agarwal was not involved with the day-to-day administration of the hospital, the court said. Agarwal has been in SSKM hospital since December 19 according to the order of the CJM court, Alipore.

On the other hand, delivering the order the Division Bench of Justice Ashim Kumar Roy and Justice Tarun Kumar Gupta rejected the bail plea of the other four directors — RS Goenka, Manish Goenka, Prasant Goenka and Rabi Todi — lodged in jail now, on the ground that the investigation prima facie found material against the four. Rejecting their bail plea, the Division Bench had asked for the statements of the witnesses, which the state provided to it.

The Division Bench said the bail could not be granted to the other four accused while investigation is going on. It asked Kolkata Police to complete its investigation as soon as possible and file the chargesheet.

The order also pointed out the state's argument that the board of directors took the decision to run the hospital and any decision was implemented only after the approval of the board of directors. Therefore, the board of directors can not avoid their responsibilities in connection with the fire which took numerous lives, the Bench added.

A fire broke out at AMRI hospital on December 9 morning and the four directors had surrendered to Kolkata Police the same evening. Delivering the order, the Division Bench specified that it considered the involvement of the five directors in the incident on the same footing and it categorically mentioned that it granted bail to Agarwal not because of his ill health.

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