Portable X-ray machines that their manufacturer sold elsewhere for about ₹14.9 lakh apiece were bought by the Delhi government for ₹37.8 lakh each, according to the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB), whose chargesheet in the alleged medical procurement scam now pegs the loss to the public exchequer at ₹842 crore. A special court at Rouse Avenue has taken cognisance of the chargesheet, which was filed on September 16.
The case revolves around the Central Procurement Agency (CPA), the body that buys medicines, vaccines and equipment for Delhi government hospitals and health centres.
A bid for two, an order for 448
The X-ray purchase is the centrepiece of the ACB’s case. According to the chargesheet, a bid for just two machines was posted on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal, apparently so that few suppliers would show interest, even though officials had already decided to buy hundreds. A firm called F-Med Devices, which the ACB says had been made the distributor for the manufacturer Prognosis, was the only one to qualify and went on to receive an order for 448 machines.
The agency alleges that the firm’s controller earned more than ₹150 crore on machines worth a little over ₹50 crore. It says the same pattern repeated elsewhere: about ₹75 crore was allegedly paid for linen worth ₹25 crore, ₹7.5 crore for 50 lakh ORS sachets worth ₹1.25 crore, and around ₹100 crore for surgical items worth ₹20-25 crore.
Who is accused
The ACB describes pharmaceutical trader Rajiv Rangila, 50, as one of the alleged masterminds. It says he ran firms registered in other people’s names, including F-Med Devices and M Sahib and Sons Private Limited, which were favoured through tenders with tailor-made conditions and unusually high turnover and experience criteria. Their bills were allegedly cleared within a day or two while other suppliers waited up to two years for payment.
Three public servants are named: Dr Vinod Kumar Ranga, head of office of the CPA; Dr Vatsala Aggarwal, the former Director General of Health Services; and Neeraj Chopra, a former deputy controller of accounts at the CPA. The ACB also alleges that kickbacks of around ₹300 crore on medicines were shared among officers. All the accused are entitled to contest the charges in court.
The missing files
Investigators have flagged 10 procurement files that cannot be traced. The prosecution told Special Judge Vidya Prakash that these files held details of who raised the demands, who drafted the bid specifications and who sat on the technical and financial evaluation panels, and that their absence has deprived the agency of primary evidence. The chargesheet accuses Dr Ranga of wilfully destroying evidence.
How the case unfolded and what comes next
The irregularities surfaced in May, when the Vigilance department raided CPA offices after complaints. Dr Ranga was arrested on June 18 and Dr Aggarwal later that month, while Rangila, who had been absconding, was arrested on September 24. Earlier this month the court rejected the regular bail pleas of Dr Aggarwal and Dr Ranga, citing the gravity of the allegations and the ongoing probe into the money trail.
The chargesheet runs to thousands of pages, relies on 84 prosecution witnesses and lists 123 documents. With cognisance taken, the case now moves towards the framing of charges, while the ACB continues to investigate the financial trail and the role of other firms.
