Bombay High Court (HC) has asked the Maharashtra government to urgently submit the schedule of elections to pave the way for a democratically elected body for Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) which completed its tenure on May 21, 2016.
The state government has until now not given its directive to hold MMC elections despite being given three MMC reminders before the expiry of the present council's tenure. Besides the rumblings in the MMC currently, the present council elected five years back had fought a two-year court battle with the state government to finally resume in 2011.
What has further accentuated the rumblings within the council is that the state government has also delayed in suitably replying to the court on matters related to notification of elections and appointment of registrar who happens to be an ayurvedic doctor contrary to what has been stipulated in the MMC Act, according to officials associated with the development.
Insiders however also pinpoint that the appointment of the registrar without consultation of an elected body of members by the government speaks of its intention to tweak the current MMC law to serve vested interests like promoting crosspathy in the state among other agendas.
The delay in notifying elections is primarily meant to sabotage the democratic way of appointing a registrar by elected members of the council in consultation with the government. The election process takes around 3 months and this is the time the incumbent administrator can wield its powers to grant legal sanction to crosspathy.
According to an official, “It is high time that the state government which appointed a returning officer to oversee elections to also urgently submit a schedule of elections. The delay on the same is meant to sabotage the process of governance as a registrar has been appointed unilaterally by the government even before the election process. Appointment of an ayurvedic doctor as the administrator is aimed at primarily promoting crosspathy.”
Meanwhile, MMC is also upset over the state government serving notice to them for irregularities in its administration and over the appointment of a registrar who as per the MMC Act is not eligible to run the administration as he already holds the post of a registrar of Maharashtra Council of Indian Medicine (MCIM) in contravention to the provisions of the MMC Act.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) had also sought the intervention of Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to address the delay in conducting of elections for the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) as its current 5- year term has ended on May 21, 2016. Following which the PMO had sent a letter to the chief secretary, Maharashtra government to resolve the issue at the earliest.
PMO has asked the Maharashtra government to expedite notification of elections of MMC on which a writ petition has also been filed by the IMA and MMC in the Bombay High Court. With delay in notification of elections, administration of the council is currently being run on an ad hoc basis by an ayurvedic doctor which is not in accordance with the MMC Act. Compounding the problem further, the registrar also holds an additional charge of Maharashtra Council of Indian Medicine (MCIM) in contravention to the provisions of the MMC Act.