NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court granted bail to Dr. Vijaya Prabha, a 50-year-old doctor arrested for allegedly operating an illegal kidney transplant racket. The court noted that the documents were prepared under the Transplantation of Human Organs (TOHO) rules, and the concerned committee was satisfied that the organ donation was for a genuine reason. Subsequently, Dr. Vijaya Prabha was released on bail.
The FIR in the case was filed following information that a well-organized crime syndicate was involved in illegal kidney transplants. It is alleged that members of this syndicate took kidneys from impoverished individuals from Bangladesh and North Eastern States by offering them money.
According to the police, Mohd. Rasel was the “kingpin of the whole syndicate.” He, along with Mohd. Sumon, Ratish Pal, and Ifti, and in collusion with other staff members of prestigious hospitals, allegedly participated in the illegal activity. Rasel was responsible for establishing contacts with prospective kidney donors from Bangladesh and with kidney patients.
During the investigation, one Mohd. Sharique was arrested. Rasel and an associate, Rokon, allegedly prepared patient files and provided them to Mohd. Sharique, who then arranged appointments with Dr. Vijaya Rajkumari. Call Detail Records (CDR) indicated that Sharique was in constant communication with Dr. Vijaya.
It was further alleged that Dr Vijaya knew the kidney transplant files were prepared by Rasel and Rokon using forged papers. She allegedly instructed them to falsify the relationship between the donor and the recipient. The police claimed that she admitted to deleting WhatsApp chats from her assistant’s mobile phone. She allegedly conducted kidney transplants for Bangladeshi nationals and deposited the money with Yatharth Hospital after collecting cash from Bangladeshi patients and deducting her share.
Senior advocate Vikas Pahwa, representing Dr Vijaya, argued that she was “framed by the prosecution and the allegations against her were false.”
“My client merely treated the patients at the concerned hospital where surgery for organ transplantation was conducted, but had no role to play in the preparation of relevant documents as per the TOHO Act. She is a reputed doctor and had followed the requisite standard operating procedures as per law and as per the administrative directions of the concerned hospitals before proceeding to conduct the kidney transplantation surgery in the present matter,” Pahwa said.
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Pahwa further contended that the kidney donor, Shankar, was clearly informed about the procedure, to which he consented. Moreover, Shankar had obtained all the requisite permissions and approvals from the committees mandated under the TOHO Act, and it was only after receiving the authorization committee’s approval that Dr. Vijaya performed the procedure.
Despite the prosecution’s opposition, the High Court granted her bail.