Khyati Hospital Chairman denied bail in PMJAY Fraud case, Court cites Rs 8 crore misuse

Ahmedabad: The Ahmedabad Rural District and Sessions Court on Tuesday denied the regular bail of Kartik Patel, Chairman of Khyati Multispeciality Hospital, after being arrested for alleged involvement in the deaths of two Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) beneficiaries after botched angioplasty procedures and alleged misuse of the funds procured through the scheme. Patel has been in judicial custody at Sabarmati Jail since his arrest on January 17.

The court observed that the chairman played a key role in the case, as under his chairmanship, Khyati Multispeciality Hospital utilised Rs 8 crore from the money allegedly generated through the PM-JAY (Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana) medical procedures for paying off a bank loan. The prosecution told the court this was done to plan the establishment of another hospital at Naroda, for which doctors were allegedly pushed to bring in more patients.

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In its order, Single Bench Judge KM Sojitra noted, “…as the amount which was earned by the hospital is utilized for paying Rs 8 crore loan of the bank availed by the Khyati Multi-specialty Hospital… Prior to this incident, during the period from March 31, 2022, to November 11, 2024, 3,578 PM-JAY claims for angiography / Angioplasty were placed by Khyati Multi-specialty Hospital and an amount of Rs 16.64 crore was earned. There are evidence of witnesses which suggests that one another hospital at Naroda was planned for which targets were given to bring more and more patients by adopting unethical practice and all the decisions were taken in the meetings under the Chairmanship of the applicant – accused which prima facie reveals that he was having knowledge about the affairs of the hospital…”

Patel’s lawyers argued for bail, citing the principle of parity, pointing out that the Gujarat High Court had granted bail to co-accused persons, including the hospital’s non-executive directors Dr Sanjay Patoliya and Rajshri Kothari, and CEO Rahul Jain. They claimed Patel had no involvement in the hospital’s daily operations.

"The three accused had role almost similar have been enlarged on bail while Patel was not involved in the day-to-day administration of the hospital," said the applicant's counsel. 

However, the court rejected this argument, stating the “seriousness and gravity of the offence” did not allow for the principle of parity. It accepted the prosecution’s claim that Patel being the Chairman, was “facing charges of conspiracy” and was allegedly “pressurizing doctors to refer patients” for “unethical procedures”.

As per the Indian Express news report, statements from witness doctors played a key role in the decision. The court took into account testimony from Cardiologist Dr Jeet Brahmbhatt, who said he was pressurized to admit patients who didn’t actually need procedures. He stated that Patel used to give targets to the directors to bring more and more patients.

The court noted, "This witness has joined as Full Time Cardiologist with the hospital and as he did not admit the patients who were not required to undergo angiography / angioplasty, his salary was stopped and he was pressurized to admit the patients and bring them under PM-JAY scheme as he used to keep angiography patients as indoor patient for only one day. Kartik Patel had stopped his payment as the number of patients had reduced due to the said witness."

The bench also considered the submissions of the Special Public Prosecutor Vijay Barot, who emphasised on the fact that Khyati Multispeciality had made 91% of its income from PM-JAY medical beneficiary scheme."

Vijay Barot told the court that the doctors presented as witnesses also stated that cheques for referral payments to them were signed by Patel himself, which showed his involvement in the operation.

The court also observed that Patel, as the Chairman of Khyati Multispecialty Hospital has 50.91% share for himself and 0.07% share as HUF and also allegedly presided over fortnightly meetings at the office, where strategy to bring more patients and how more and more patients can be brought under the Government welfare scheme was made.

With these findings, the court rejected his bail application. 

Also read- PMJAY Angioplasty Deaths Case: Khyati Hospital Chairman arrested