Dental Tourism Fraud: PCA recommends inquiry against 2 police officers over gross misconduct

Chandigarh: Following a complaint from a city-based dentist who alleged that he was wrongly implicated in a criminal case without following proper legal procedures as required by Supreme Court, the Police Complaints Authority (PCA), Chandigarh, has recommended a departmental inquiry against Inspector Ashwani Attri and retired Sub-Inspector Balwinder Singh for mishandling the investigation into a dental tourism fraud case. 

The recommendation was made after the PCA found that the investigation conducted by these two individuals was unprofessional and biased, which violated Supreme Court guidelines. PCA said this case doesn't even qualify as a criminal case — it’s more like a consumer complaint about poor service. They noted that D’Souza never explicitly asked for a criminal case to be filed — yet the police did so anyway, leading to unjust damage to the dentist’s reputation.

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Medical Dialogues in 2020 reported that the entire genesis of the case goes back to the year 2018, when the NRI patient filed a complaint with the Chandigarh police. In her complaint, she said that she was looking for dental implants and contacted dentist Dr Mohit Dhawan. He said that he would carry out the procedure in two sittings. She came to India on August 1, 2017. The dentist allegedly used “sub-standard” implants and took the full payment of Rs 7 lakh through a cheque. He also allegedly offered to arrange her hotel stay as well as her visits to several hill stations. But he did not do so.

The complainant said that after she returned to the US, she realised that the implants were sub-standard after the “upper crown fell down”. Following this, an FIR was registered against Dr. Dhawan under charges of cheating, forgery, and using fake documents. Based on this complaint, the police booked an FIR against the doctor.

However, Dr. Dhawan countered the allegations, claiming he was the real victim. He alleged that the case against him was filed under the influence of senior officials, including a former CBI Director and the then Chandigarh DGP. He also pointed out that he had filed a cheque-bounce case against D’Souza after a cheque of Rs 7 lakh issued by her was dishonoured.

In his 2018 complaint to the PCA, Dr. Mohit Dhawan alleged that then SHO Inspector Ashwani Attri and Investigating Officer Balwinder Singh wrongly registered a criminal case against him without adhering to proper legal procedures. He pointed out that, as per the Supreme Court’s ruling in Jacob Mathew vs State of Punjab, a Medical Board must be constituted before registering a criminal case in matters related to medical treatment — a step the officers failed to take.

Dr. Dhawan further claimed that the police ignored crucial evidence he had submitted, including documents and courier receipts. He also accused the officials of attempting to tarnish his reputation by ensuring the FIR was published in newspapers. According to him, no proper investigation was carried out — D’Souza was never summoned for verification, and the officers allegedly fabricated entries and documents to shield the involvement of other police personnel.

In response to these allegations, Inspector Ashwani Attari and IO Balwinder Singh submitted their response that there was no need to get a medical board constituted, as it is not a case of medical negligence but a case of cheating and forgery.

Considering both sides, the authority concluded that the FIR against Dr Mohit Dhawan of Avance Dental Care was based on unverified complaints and suppressed material facts. Additionally, the PCA flagged procedural lapses, including the failure to provide Dr Dhawan with copies of complaints, ignoring crucial evidence like courier receipts and tracking details, and acting on what appeared to be fabricated documents, The Tribune reports. 

"It is an alleged case of deficiency in services where the patient is not satisfied with the services provided by the doctor and did not provide follow-up treatment…She (D’Souza) never requested registration of a criminal case against the doctor. However, police proceeded to register the FIR…” said the PCA as reported by the Indian Express. 

The bench of PCA added that "It appears from the circumstances that the police officials were determined to implicate Dr Dhawan in this case on the basis of faulty or no investigation, and his reputation also suffered due to criminal prosecution. Therefore, this bench recommends to enquire into the role of DSP Satish Kumar and ASI Gurvinder Singh who summoned Dr Mohit Dhawan without any registered complaint…”

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