SC OKs plan to rejig MCI oversight panel

Dhananjay Mahapatra

New Delhi





The Supreme Court on Tuesday approved the Centre's proposal to re-constitute the oversight committee (OC) which supervised functioning of the Medical Council of India (MCI) with a panel of five eminent doctors.

 

The five doctors are V K Paul, professor and head of paediatrics in AIIMS; Randeep Guleria, director, AIIMS; Jagat Ram, director, PGIMER, Chandigarh; B N Gangadharan, director, NIMHANS, Bengaluru; and Nikhil Tandon, professor and head of endocrinology, AIIMS.
The panel will replace the earlier OC headed by ex-CJI R M Lodha, which was appointed by the SC in the wake of largscale irregularities in the MCI's functioning and whose term had ended. The MCI regulates medical education, including recommending grant of recognition to medical colleges.
A bench of Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justices J Chelameswar, R K Agrawal, D Y Chandra chud and S Abdul Nazeer was in agreement with solicitor general Ranjit Kumar about the eminence of the five and their suitability to oversee the MCI's work.

However, the CJI had some doubts about these “busy“ doctors being able to spare time to oversee the MCI. “We are satisfied with the names. They are all truly outstanding persons and of impeccable integrity. I know some of them. They are very busy doctors and find it difficult to spare time outside their work. I have experienced that.Sometimes they do not have time to spare for the Chief Justice of India. If they do not have time for the CJI, will they have time for MCI?“ he asked.

Having narrated his personal experience, the CJI was quick to add a clarification, “Oversight Committee shall commence its functions forthwith and that liberty is being granted to the Union government to seek substitution of the names in the OC, if the occasion so arises.“ The bench also permitted the Centre to name one of the five as the OC chairman.