DEHRADUN: A Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court in Dehradun on Wednesday sentenced Rajesh Kumar Gupta, who runs Neeraj Clinic in Rishikesh in the name of treating epilepsy patients, to five years imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 21,000 on him. Gupta was accused of administering psychotropic substances to his patients in Neeraj Clinic.

Besides Gupta, the court also convicted 14 others, all residents of Dehradun and Rishikesh. The court sentenced all of them to one-year jail term for helping Gupta flee from the police in 2014.

Declared quack by Indian Medical Association (IMA) in 2000, RK Gupta, was arrested by Uttarakhand police on August 14, 2004, after a Canadian woman who was his patient, complained about his medicines to the Centre that asked the state government to take action against him. He was earlier arrested on August 3, 2014 but people of Rishikesh protested and an angry crowd managed to free him.

He has been found guilty under section 224 (resistance or obstruction by a person to his lawful apprehension), section 420 (cheating) of IPC and section 7 of The Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act 1954. Taking note of his extravagant advertisements in 2000, a three member team of doctors comprising of Dr V N Sharma, Dr S P Singh and Dr J Rao of Karnataka of Indian Medical Association (IMA) anti-quackery cell was sent to check Neeraj Clinic and the treatment given by the so called epilepsy expert. They declared Gupta a quack.