New Delhi, May 8 (ANI): The Supreme Court's today ordered the reinstatement of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Director Venugopal, ten months after he was sacked by Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Anbumani Ramadoss.
Venugopal had challenged amendments made to the AIIMS Act in July 2006, by Ramadoss, which fixed the Director's retirement age at 65, and therefore lead to his removal.
The Supreme Court observed that AIIMS Amendment Act was flawed and therefore there should be no intervention in the autonomous institutions.
It also said that the Centre's decision to fix 65 as the upper age limit for the post of AIIMS Director was malafide in intent and was actually intended to remove a distinguished cardiologist like Dr. Venugopal from office.
As per the ruling, Dr. Venugopal will now remain in office till July 3 this year and enjoy all powers and privileges due to the director.
During a hearing on Dr. Venugopal's petition, senior advocate Manendra Singh said, "The amendment to the AIIMS Act pertaining to the fixation of upper age for the Director at 65 is discriminatory against the distinguished cardiologist and needs to be quashed."
The AIIMS Amendment Act was passed by the Parliament in August 2007.
BJP demands resignation of Ramadoss following
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday demanded the sacking of Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Anbumani Ramadoss hours after the Supreme Court struck down a law that led to the sacking of All India Institute of Medical Science's (AIIMS) Director Dr P Venugopal.
The party also targeted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for "failing" to protect a premier institute of national importance.
"I demand the resignation of Ramadoss, and if he is not resigning, I want the Prime Minister to dismiss him forthwith," senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj told reporters here this afternoon.
She described the Supreme Court's ruling as the "defeat of Ramadoss and his malafide intentions and the defeat of the Prime Minister and his government."
"The Supreme Court striking down the AIIMS Amendment Act has established that Health Minister Ramadoss' intention was malafide and dishonest," she said.
She said the apex court's ruling has established that the Health Minister had "misused" the Parliament to satisfy his personal ego.
Ramadoss, however, said there was no question of him tendering his resignation as the AIIMS law was passed by Parliament.
He said the future course action would be decided after going through the Supreme Court order.
Last year, Dr.Venugopal had filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Parliament's decision to fix 65 years as the retirement age for the post of AIIMS director.
He alleged that the AIIMS (Amendment) Bill, 2007, passed by Parliament with retrospective effect, was aimed deliberately to remove him from service.
The Bill fixed 65 year as the retirement age of the director of the AIIMS and the Chandigarh-based Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER).
The legislative measure stipulated that "the director shall hold office for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office or until he attains 65 years of age."
The legislation followed a Delhi High Court order that the retirement age of 62 for teaching faculty and 60 for non-teaching faculty did not apply in the case of director.
Dr.Venugopal was removed from his post in July 2007 and replaced by Dr Tirath Das Dogra.
The Bill, which was introduced in Parliament in August 2007, was opposed by the BJP and the AIADMK, as they felt that an eminent eminent cardiac surgeon was being targetted.
No question of resignation : Ramadoss
Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss today said that there was no question of his resigning hours after the Supreme Court struck down a law that led to the sacking of All India Institute of Medical Science's (AIIMS) Director Dr P Venugopal.
Ramadoss said there is no question of resignation because the government and parliament passed the law, and added that the apex court order is not a setback.
"We will take a decision after reading the judgment. There is no question of misleading Parliament. It was decided by the government and then passed by parliament," he added.
Earlier, the Bharatiya Janata Party demanded the sacking of Ramadoss. The party also targeted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for "failing" to protect a premier institute of national importance.
"I demand the resignation of Ramadoss, and if he is not resigning, I want the Prime Minister to dismiss him forthwith," senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj told reporters here this afternoon.
She described the Supreme Court's ruling as the "defeat of Ramadoss and his malafide intentions and the defeat of the Prime Minister and his government."
"The Supreme Court striking down the AIIMS Amendment Act has established that Health Minister Ramadoss' intention was malafide and dishonest," she said.
She said the apex court's ruling has established that the Health Minister had "misused" the Parliament to satisfy his personal ego.
Justices Tarun Chatterjee and H.S. Bedi declared "malafide and unconstitutional" the central government law fixing the retirement age of the AIIMS director at 65 years.
The bench said it was evident that the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, and the Post Graduate Institute for Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, (Amendment) Act, 2007, which limited the tenure of the directors of the two institutes to a maximum of five years or till they reach the retirement age of 65, was enacted with the sole purpose of targeting the cardiologist.
Ramadoss sacked Venugopal in November 2007 after parliament passed the law and it received President Pratibha Patil's assent. (ANI)
