The Rajiv Gandhi Super-specialty Hospital (RGSH) in Raichur, better known as OPEC Hospital as it had been built with a financial aid of Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), suffered another blow on Saturday.
The Principal District and Sessions Court seized hospital material for defaulting on payment of Rs. 36.93 lakh due to a private company that had supplied laboratory materials in 2010. The court staff, equipped with the court order, seized computer systems, photocopy machine, printers, standing fans, chairs and other materials in the presence of a lawyer representing the private company.
According to S.K. Purohit, the lawyer, Lazer Instrumentation Pvt. Ltd., a Chennai-based company, had supplied laboratory items worth Rs. 21 lakh to OPEC Hospital in 2010 when Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd. was running the hospital. When no payment was made to the supplier even after repeated reminders, the company filed a petition at a court in Chennai in 2011. After hearing both parties, the court ruled in favour of the supplier and forwarded an Execution Petition (EP350/13) to Raichur District and Sessions Court in 2013. After Karnataka government's agreement with Apollo expired in 2012, the hospital remained closed for a year till the government took over OPEC management and reopened the hospital in November 2013. However, it neither paid dues to the company nor did it attach any property despite court issuing four warrants.
"The material seized is nothing as compared to the outstanding. This is just a warning to the hospital authorities. We will hand over the seized material to Court which will auction them. If the Hospital does not pay the remaining amount, the court may again order for further action for recovering the remaining dues," Mr. Purohit told The Hindu .
When contacted, Sharan Prakash Patil, Minister for Medical Education, said: “I am not aware of the case and these developments. I will enquire with the authorities concerned and initiate action.”
