3 year Jailtime; Rs 50,000 fine for Kerala Gynaecologist for taking a bribe of Rs 2000

Thiruvananthpuram: Caught taking a bribe of Rs 2000 from a pregnant woman for performing her delivery, a gynaecologist working with the Kerala Government has now been sentenced to 3 years of rigorous imprisonment and directed to pay Rs 50,000 fine.

The sentence was pronounced recently by the Thiruvananthapuram Vigilance court after the court held the doctor guilty for violating various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The incident dates back to the year 2011 when a pregnant woman was rushed to Kadakkal Government Hospital in Kollam after she contracted labour pains. It was alleged that Dr Ravuthar demanded Rs 3500 to perform her c-section, but later settled for Rs 2,000. The patient was allegedly instructued by the doctor to bring the amount to his private clinic.

The patient's husband complained to the vigilance department, who then handed over marked currency notes (smeared with Phenolphthalein) to the patient's husband to give to the doctor. Further, two police officials were sent behind the patient's husband to the doctor's clinic.

A local daily reports that while the doctor didn’t receive the bribe by hand and instead, he asked him to place it on the table. This became a point of argument during the court, whereby the doctor's lawyers stated that the doctor's hands were clean, no traces of ink were found on his hands and hence he did not take the bribe

The vigilance court, however, held the doctor guilty and sentenced him to three-year imprisonment and a fine of Rs 50,000