The Bombay High Court has granted bail to Dr. Kishore Bisure, the former dean of a COVID-19 Jumbo Centre in Mumbai’s Dahisar area, 19 months after his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over alleged irregularities during the pandemic. Dr. Bisure was taken into custody on July 19, 2023, amid accusations of involvement in a scheme to approve fake attendance sheets in exchange for valuable items.
Justice Milind N Jadhav, presiding over the case, highlighted the lack of progress in the trial, noting that charges had yet to be framed and expressing concern over the apparent delay in the filing of the complaint. The court also pointed out the extensive witness list provided by the prosecution, which includes 82 individuals, suggesting that a swift conclusion of the trial is improbable.
The allegations against Dr. Bisure stem from his tenure at the Dahisar COVID-19 treatment center, which was one of the facilities run by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) during the pandemic’s peak. According to the ED, from July 2020 to February 2022, operational irregularities at two COVID-19 centers in Dahisar and Worli led to wrongful financial gains amounting to Rs 32.44 crore for Lifeline Hospital Management Services, the contractor responsible for medical services at these sites.
The investigation into these claims began following a police FIR filed in August 2022 by former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya, who raised concerns about pandemic-related expenditures. The ED subsequently initiated its case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in November 2022, citing the need to probe the financial discrepancies linked to the management of these centers.
In his bail plea, Dr. Bisure contended that his involvement with the Dahisar center was limited to a five-month period from July 9, 2020, to December 27, 2020, arguing that he had no further role in the hospital’s operations beyond that timeframe. He also criticized the ED’s selective approach in handling the case, suggesting that other deans who served under similar circumstances were not subjected to the same legal scrutiny.
