Over the short period of less than a month, two shocking incidences took place in Indian medical jurisprudence that may or may not be linked with each other but that will certainly have major implications in spread of medical education and healthcare delivery system across the nation. In the first incidence which surprisingly remained unreported by the media, the long-lasting criminal case against Dr. Ketan Desai, ex-MCI president and most well known corrupt medical leader who was caught red-handed by CBI in 2010 allegedly for taking a huge bribe from a private medical college, was freed by the Patiala House Court, New Delhi after CBI submitted that Gujarat government declined “sanction” to prosecute Dr. Desai. “Sanction” (under CrPC Section 197) is a purely technical and routine legal process that may be obtained from the authority before prosecution of a allegedly corrupt public servant. Supreme Court of India has repeatedly held that “sanction” may not be even necessary before prosecution of a public servant involved with corruption. It is also a puzzle why CBI went to Gujarat government, instead of the central health ministry, seeking “sanction” when Dr. Desai was apprehended for taking bribe as MCI president. PBT president, Dr. Kunal Saha, had West Bengal Medical Council president and several members indicted for “criminal conspiracy” (under IPC section 120b) in 2001 and Calcutta High Court categorically dismissed the same plea of “sanction” adopted by the accused doctors.
The second major incidence took place last month, which was also widely reported by the media, involves BJP government’s abrupt move to dissolve entire MCI and replace it by seven hand-picked doctors (“Board of Governors”) by passing an “Ordinance”. The government has made a bogus plea that since the proposed National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill is likely to be approved soon and since the 5-year term of the elected members of the present MCI would expire soon, MCI is no longer needed. But what would happen if the proposed NMC Bill fail to be passed in the parliament soon? Also, government was well aware for a very long time that the regular term of the present MCI members would expire in late 2018. Why the health ministry did not make any plan in a democratic manner to hold election in time to replace the present MCI members? Instead, they now make this untenable claim that since the present MCI members’ term would end soon, entire MCI must be replaced with a few doctors chosen by the government. The MCI website has been down since this shocking disbandment of MCI. PBT is also deeply concerned about what is going to happen with the victims of medical negligence whose complaints are currently pending before the MCI Ethics Committee. But PBT and ordinary people of India are mostly concerned to imagine whether the two strange and major incidences last month are orchestrated by the one and same corrupt doctors and unscrupulous political leaders in India.
