Raids conducted against trustees of Lilawati Hospital, says govt

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Friday told the Supreme Court that it has taken action on the complaint of alleged money laundering by the trustees of Mumbai's Lilawati Hospital and raids were conducted in this regard.

"Certain raids were conducted and documents have been seized," Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium said.

The response came when a bench headed by Justice B Sudarshan Reddy asked about the government's stand on a plea Delhi resident Harsh Raghuvanshi, a practising lawyer, seeking a probe into the alleged siphoning of funds by the trustees Prabodh Mehta, Rashmi Mehta, Chetan Mehta and Bhavin Mehta.

Subramanium said the government would file its response on this aspect of the case within a week. The apex court had on April 6 issued notices to the Centre and RBI on the petition seeking a probe into the alleged money laundering by the trustees of the Hospital.

It has also sought a response from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, the Enforcement Directorate, the Central Board of Direct taxes and SEBI on a plea seeking an investigation by appropriate agencies into the alleged tax evasion and money laundering by the trustees.

It was alleged in the petition that the Mehtas have siphoned off money from the hospital and through the hawala route it has been deposited in banks abroad including Mauritius and Liechtenstein Bank.