PBT president, Dr. Kunal Saha, testified before Metropolitian Magistrate, Debashis Panja, yesterday in the Bankshall Criminal Court in Kolkata telling that after PBT lodged a complaint with the MCI against Dr. Nirmal Maji, Trinomul MLA and president of West Bengal Medical Council (WBMC), for using his political influence to perform his pet dog’s dialysis at SSKM Hospital, a premier state-run hospital in Kolkata, WBMC president made false and slanderous claim that Dr. Saha has been “cheating” victims of medical negligence through PBT. Maji also threatened Dr. Saha that the state council may cancel license of Dr. Saha who is originally a doctor from Kolkata and registered with WBMC.
Dr. Saha sent a legal notice to Dr. Maji asking him for unconditional apology for making the baseless and defamatory comments. Since Maji did not respond, Dr. Saha lodged a criminal complaint against Maji who has been charged for “criminal defamation” (IPC Section 499/500) and “criminal conspiracy” (IPC Section 120b). The court took cognizance of this unprecedented criminal case against a politically powerful medical council president and testimony started yesterday. The court has fixed January 31 for the next date of hearing when more witnesses will be produced against Dr. Maji. Each of these criminal charges against Maji carries imprisonment for a period of 2 years.
