After PIL was filed against trustees, the hospital's bank has said it will freeze its accounts, forcing it to suspend functioning, unless a fresh joint mandate of operations is filed by April 18
After PIL was filed against trustees, the hospital's bank has said it will freeze its accounts, forcing it to suspend functioning, unless a fresh joint mandate of operations is filed by April 18
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THE Lilavati Hospital, which is under the CBI and Directorate of Enforcement (ED) scanner for alleged money laundering by its trustees, may now be unable to treat its patients from Monday because the Union Bank of India (UBI) has threatened to freeze its accounts.
The Lilavati Hospital may be unable to treat its patients from Monday as the Union Bank of India has threatened to freeze its accounts
If the accounts are frozen, patients will not be able to pay their medical bills to the hospital, which collects them through a UBI counter on the premises.
This would force the hospital management to suspend operations till the freeze is lifted, said senior staff members. "Freezing the accounts would risk the patients' life," said a permanent trustee.
In a notice (copy with MiD DAY) issued to trustees of the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust on April 9, the state-run bank has expressed concern at the gravity of allegations made before the Hon'ble Supreme Court (against the trustees) and the diverse and contradictory instructions given to them by two Groups of Trustees.
It states that the bank will freeze all Trust accounts, including those of Lilavati Hospital and Research Centre, if the Groups of Trustees do not 'decide amongst themselves and submit a joint fresh mandate for operation' within seven days of the receipt of the notice.
The notice was received by the trustees on April 11, which gives them time until Monday, April 18 to file the joint mandate. No such mandate was filed by the trustees till yesterday.
"If the accounts are frozen, the payment counter inside the hospital will be closed and patients will not be able to pay bills and admission fees. This will result in the hospital having to stop functioning for a while," said a senior staff member, on condition of anonymity.
Advocate Nainesh Amin, who represents UBI, confirmed that the letter had been sent to the hospital. He said action would be taken as per the notice if the joint mandate was not submitted.
"We have sent the letter to the hospital and if they do not comply with our demand, further action will be taken as per the letter," he said.
Flashback
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court admitted a public interest petition based on media reports that trustees of the Lilavati Memorial Hospital Trust and directors of some banks held black money in foreign accounts. The trust's office and the hospital was subsequently raided by I-T sleuths on April 13.
The Other Side
"They cannot freeze our account as it might risku00a0 patients' life," said Niket Mehta, managing trustee of Lilavati Hospital.
"Being a permanent trustee, no notice has been given to Niket Mehta. Freezing the bank account will affect the hospital and the bank authorities should approach a court of law before doing so," said Advocate Dinesh Tiwari, who represents Mehta.
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