An anti-corruption court here on Tuesday convicted two top health service officials of big ticket corruption in the procurement of hepatitis-B vaccine for child immunisation during the 2002-03 period.
The bench, presided by Vigilance Inquiry Commissioner and Special Judge A. Baharudeen, sentenced the officials, former directors V.K. Rajan and Shylaja, to rigorous imprisonment for five years.
He also slapped a fine of ₹52 lakh each on the convicts. If they defaulted on the payment of the penalty, they would have to serve an additional year in prison.
The Vigilance case against the suspects was that they had inflated the demand for the vaccine and awarded the supply contract to two private firms based in Mumbai and Hyderabad at a rate much higher than the then prevalent market rate.
Investigators later found that the firms were not pharmaceutical drug manufacturers as made out by the suspect officials in files. Nor did the private entities have any experience in making vaccines. Instead, the firms contracted by the convicts were actually fly-by-night intermediaries who sought to make a sizeable cut from the multi-crore deal. The Vigilance charged the accused with bid rigging and violation of Central and State tendering and procurement rules. The Vigilance also found that the vaccine was not stored properly and the cold chain poorly maintained, resulting in the loss of thousands of vials.
The prosecution case was that the accused had conspired to defraud the government of more than ₹2 crore. They had abused their official position and imperilled the State’s child immunisation programme. Doctors who refused to administer the vaccine were threatened with transfers and other service reversals. Both the convicts have been sent to the Central Prison here. K.B. Ravi, Dy.SP, SIU, Thiruvananthapuram, chargesheeted the case. Legal advisor C.C. Augustine prosecuted.
