In a major development in our battle against corruption, judge in a Special Court in Barasat for MPs/MLAs took cognizance of several serious criminal charges including “criminal breach of trust by public servant” (IPC Section 409) and “forgery” (IPC Section 463) against Dr. Nirmal Maji, influential MLA of the ruling TMC party and president of West Bengal Medical Council (WBMC), and issued notice today directing him to appear in court on January 5, 2019. PBT president, Dr. Kunal Saha, lodged this criminal complaint against Dr. Maji last August after obtaining documents showing that Dr. Maji abused his position and utilized public funds from the medical council to pay for his personal legal expenses. Section 409 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) carries an imprisonment of 10 years for criminal breach of trust by any public servant. Dr. Saha’s complaint has alleged that Dr. Maji being the head of WBMC used his official position to pay for attorney fees in his personal legal case in clear violation of legal provision. A court in Salt Lake, Kolkata (within WBMC jurisdiction) already examined Dr. Saha and PBT secretary, Ms. Ratna Ghosh, during Dr. Saha’s last trip to India. Dr. Saha’s lawyer informed the court today that Dr. Saha plans to visit India in December-January to participate in further hearing on this historic criminal case against a sitting medical council president.
