The Delhi High Court has issued a notice to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) regarding a perjury petition filed by its former Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO), Sanjiv Chaturvedi. The petition accuses the institution of making false statements under oath in an ongoing legal dispute.
Justices C Hari Shankar and Ajay Digpaul directed AIIMS to respond within four weeks to the allegations brought forward by Chaturvedi. The bench stated, “Issue notice.. Reply, if any, be filed within four weeks with an advance copy to the learned counsel for the petitioner who may file a rejoinder thereto within four weeks thereof.”
Sanjiv Chaturvedi, an Indian Forest Services officer awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2015, served as the CVO at AIIMS from 2012 until 2014. His tenure was marked by anti-corruption initiatives within the premier medical institution. The plea centers around AIIMS’s alleged misstatements in a counter-affidavit dated August 17, 2016, concerning the process used for his annual performance appraisal report for the financial year 2014-15.
Chaturvedi’s petition argues that AIIMS willfully made false declarations during the court proceedings. The document states, “It is most humbly prayed to initiate appropriate criminal proceedings against the respondent (AIIMS) under Section 340 of the CrPC read with Section 193 of the IPC, for deliberately and willfully making false statements on oath before this Hon’ble Court.”
Additionally, the petition calls for the imposition of an “exemplary fine” on AIIMS for these alleged false statements, suggesting a punitive measure to underscore the seriousness of the accusations.
