Vij to ‘cancel lease’ of freehold Fortis land

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 12

Questions are being raised over the state government’s recent announcement to cancel the lease of Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurugram, as the land provided to the hospital by Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) is on freehold basis and not on lease.

A copy of the allotment letter dated December 17, 2004, issued in favour of Fortis Heart and Multi-Specialty Hospital, Mohali, shows that the plot was allotted on freehold basis and not on lease. The 11.5-acre plot in Sector 44, Gurugram, was allotted to the hospital for Rs 19.77 crore at Rs 3,552 per square yard.

Harinder Dhingra, an RTI activist from Gurugram, who had obtained the copy under the Right to Information Act, alleged today that the government was merely trying to gain public sympathy by announcing cancellation of the lease deed.

“If the state government is really interested in taking action against Fortis, it should resume the plot as it is authorised under the law to do so,” he said.

Clause 10 of the allotment letter states, “In the event of breach of any other condition of transfer, the Estate Officer may resume the land under provisions of Section 17 of the HUDA Act.”

Dhingra alleged that the inquiry conducted by the Health Department had clearly pointed out that the hospital was not providing free or subsidised treatment to EWS patients, a condition mandatory under the terms of allotment.

When contacted, Health Minister Anil Vij said the government had written to HUDA for cancellation of lease, but in case allotment was on freehold basis, action would be taken accordingly.

It had been learnt that the state government’s announcement of removing the hospital from its panel was also factually incorrect since the hospital was not on the panel in the first place.

“I have been informed that Fortis hospital, Mohali, is on the state government panel, but the same is not true in case of Fortis institute, Gurugram,” Vij said.

On December 7, he ordered removal of Fortis institute, Gurugram, from the state government panel in the wake of death of a seven-year-old girl during treatment, for which parents were charged Rs 16 lakh. He had said on the basis of the report of an investigation team constituted under the Additional Director General, Dr Rajiv Vadhera, directions had been issued to register an FIR against the hospital and cancel the licence of its blood bank.