Edu-leaders

The Supreme Court has issued notice on a petition by an NGO challenging the election of Ketan Desai, a former president of the Medical Council of India (MCI), to the Gujarat University senate.

The petition was filed by People For Better Treatment (PBT) President Kunal Saha.

Desai was elected President of MCI in 2009 but was removed last year over allegations of "professional misconduct" and corruption. His medical registration was also suspended by the MCI. Later, the MCI with its 100 members, was dissolved and replaced by a six-member board of governors.

An apex court bench of Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice A.K. Ganguly issued notice after it was told that Desai could not be elected to the university senate on a post reserved for a registered medical practitioner. The court said it would appoint a lawyer to assist it in the case.

The petitioner has challenged a Gujarat High Court order dismissing his plea on the ground that being a non-resident Indian (NRI), he was not entitled to move the court and invoke public interest.

The High Court has dismissed Saha's petition and said he has not established his credential or bonafide for pursuing the case. It said that Saha had not shown how he was associated with the field of medical education. It also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Saha. His NGO is based in Kolkota and he is settled in America.

Appearing for the petitioner, senior counsel M.N. Krishnamani told the court that if Saha's stakes in the matter were in question, then the court could appoint a lawyer to decide the controversial election of Desai to the Gujarat University senate.

Source: igovernment