Supreme Court fines two doctors Rs 1.40 cr for medical asylum to ex-MLA

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday imposed a whopping fine of Rs 1.40 crore on two Gurugram-based doctors for giving "medical asylum" to former INLD legislator Balbir Singh after his bail was cancelled in 2013 by the apex court in a 2011 murder case.

A bench of Justice Dipak Misra, Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice Mohan M. Shantanagoudar directed the doctors -- Munish Prabhakar and K.S. Sachdev -- to deposit Rs 70 lakh each with the apex court Registry by June 30.

The Haryana Police had visited Privat Hospital owned by Dr Sachdeva in Gurugram in Haryana to take custody of Balbir Singh alias Bali Pehalwan, but the hospital authorities had refused to discharge him. 

Subsequently, the hospital said the former Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) legislator was fit to be presented in court, yet he was not discharged.

Balbir Singh was admitted to Privat Hospital for 527 days on three different occasions between November 15, 2013, and May 1, 2015, after the Supreme Court cancelled his bail on October 24, 2013.

The apex court had reversed a February 11, 2013, order of the Punjab and Haryana High court that granted Balbir Singh bail.