Suman Hazra, a vendor accused in the alleged financial irregularities case at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, has been granted conditional bail by the Calcutta High Court, with restrictions on his movement and a direction to surrender his passport.
Justice Tirthankar Ghosh, sitting on a vacation bench, granted bail to Hazra against a personal bond of ₹20,000. The court also restricted him from travelling outside Calcutta, Bidhannagar and Howrah without prior permission. He must comply with the other conditions set out in the bail order.
Hazra’s release comes less than a fortnight after the Supreme Court granted bail to former RG Kar principal Sandip Ghosh, the prime accused in the financial irregularities case. On October 15, a bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and Prasanna B. Varale set aside the Calcutta High Court’s February 23 order rejecting Ghosh’s bail plea.
The Supreme Court took into account that Ghosh had spent more than two years in custody and that only seven of the 147 witnesses had been examined in the trial. It left the decision on conditions for his release to the trial court.
Hazra, proprietor of Hazra Medical, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation along with Ghosh and another vendor, Biplab Singha, in September 2024. According to the CBI’s allegations, Hazra supplied medicines and medical equipment to RG Kar and was involved in a conspiracy to manipulate the tender and quotation process to secure contracts at inflated prices.
The CBI has alleged that Singha, proprietor of Maa Tara Traders, supplied medicines and other materials to the hospital, while Hazra supplied medicines and medical equipment at inflated rates. Investigators have alleged that the vendors acted in connivance with Ghosh and benefited from irregularities in the procurement process.
The CBI chargesheet alleges that quotations were manipulated, forged documents were used and competitive bidding for hospital supplies was prevented between 2021 and 2024. These allegations have placed procurement controls at a government hospital at the centre of the case, raising questions about how contracts for essential medicines and equipment were awarded and monitored during the period under investigation.
The case originated from a complaint by Akhtar Ali, a former deputy superintendent of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, who alleged corruption and nepotism in the awarding of contracts during Ghosh’s tenure. Ali also approached the Calcutta High Court seeking an Enforcement Directorate investigation into alleged financial misconduct, including procurement irregularities, hospital-waste disposal and the collection of money from trainee doctors.
The allegations received wider public attention after the rape and murder of a 31-year-old postgraduate trainee doctor at the hospital on August 9, 2024. Ghosh’s conduct as principal came under scrutiny after the crime, although the alleged financial irregularities case concerns procurement and other financial allegations.
On August 23, 2024, the Calcutta High Court transferred the investigation into the alleged financial irregularities from a state-constituted special investigation team to the CBI. The court noted that the central agency was already investigating the trainee doctor’s rape and murder. The Enforcement Directorate later opened a parallel money-laundering investigation into the alleged financial transactions and filed a chargesheet in February 2026 naming Ghosh, Hazra and Singha.
Hazra’s co-accused Biplab Singha continues to remain in custody. The bail order does not determine the merits of the allegations, which remain subject to the ongoing proceedings.
