Bhujbal stable, says JJ Hospital panel report; Bombay high court adjourns bail hearing

Mumbai: The condition of former deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who is suffering from ailments, is “stable with medications”, said a report by a nine-member board of JJ Hospital that examined the incarcerated NCP leader on May 24. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested Bhujbal on March 14 in a Rs 800-crore money-laundering case registered following a 2014 Bombay high court direction to appoint a special team to probe allegations of his misconduct. The HC adjourned the bail hearing to June 8.
After the report was handed to vacation judge Justice Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi in a sealed cover on Friday, Bhujbal’s counsels Amit Desai and Sajal Yadav sought an adjournment of his bail plea filed on medical grounds. “We need to consult a private doctor to understand the technicalities of this report and then argue for bail. The ECG reports show some abnormalities…” They said a private consultant, Vinod Kaneria, had on May 2 advised “urgent coronary angiography at the earliest” followed by further appropriate treatment based on the St George test reports after his admission between April 24 and 28.
Special public prosecutor for ED Purnima Kantharia raised objections to Desai’s plea for adjournment and seeking opinion from private doctors. “No two doctors are ever going to agree. He cannot sit on a JJ panel report which says no surgical intervention is required. A private doctor’s opinion cannot be sought or relied on over the medical board report.”