Lalchandani lab owners get interim relief from arrest

THE HC DIRECTED LALCHANDANI LABS TO APPEAR BEFORE PROBE TEAM ON JUNE 26 AND COOPERATE IN ONGOING PROBE

DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand high court on Thursday granted temporary protection from arbitrary arrest to the owners of Delhi-based Lalchandani Labs that is under investigation for allegedly conducting fake tests during the Haridwar Mahakumbh.

Vikas Bahuguna, counsel of the petitioner, said justice NS Dhanik, who heard the matter, has directed Lalchandani Labs to appear before an investigating officer on June 26 and cooperate in the ongoing probe into alleged fake Covid testing.

On Friday, the court granted temporary protection from arbitrary arrest to the owners of Delhi-based Max Corporate Services and Hisar-based Nalwa Labs and directed them to appear before an investigating officer on Friday and cooperate in the probe.

Bahuguna said the interim relief from arrest has been granted in view of the Supreme Court judgement in Arnesh Kumar vs State of Bihar, according to which the petitioner should be arrested only when the investigating officer has reason to believe on the basis of information and material collected, that he has committed an offence.

Lalchandani Lab, Nalwa Lab and Noida-based private agency Max Corporate Services – were booked under sections of the Indian Penal Code, disaster management act and epidemic diseases act last week. Days later, all three firms approached the high court separately to quash the FIR. At present, three separate probes are looking at the allegations: one by the police, one by the district administration and one by the mela administration.

On June 21, a criminal writ petition was filed by Lalchandani Labs Ltd through Anchal Gupta, one of the directors of the private lab, four days after the case was filed against it by Haridwar police.

Bahuguna said, “Lalchandani Labs signed a MoU with Max Corporate Services on March 10 in which it was agreed that that the lab would conduct RT-PCR and rapid antigen tests at Haridwar Kumbh Mela. It conducted only 12,000 rapid antigen tests and no RT-PCR test between April 1 and 26. The labs conducted tests at nominal ₹ 206 per test and the total bill for these tests was around ₹ 24.74 lakh and not crores of rupees as reported by media.

Bahuguna said his client will fully cooperate in the ongoing probe and comply with the directions of the HC and appear before the investigating officer on June 26.