The Hindu : Front Page : Court stays advice against Venugopal

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Saturday, Jul 08, 2006

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Court stays advice against Venugopal

Staff Reporter

Union Government restrained from acting on recommendation till further orders

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Friday stayed the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences governing body's recommendation to terminate Director P. Venugopal's services. It also restrained the Union Government from acting on the recommendation till further orders.

The order followed a petition by Dr. Venugopal, seeking a stay on the July 5 recommendation and its quashing.

The Court issued notice to the Centre, Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss, the AIIMS and the Election Commission. It directed them to file their replies within two weeks. It fixed August 17 for further hearing.

Before passing the order, Justice Anil Kumar asked counsel for Dr. Venugopal, Arun Jaitley, about the grounds on which his client sought a stay.

Mr. Jaitley submitted that forming of opinion by the governing body was arbitrary and without justifiable grounds. As such it was in violation of Article 14 of the Constitution as well as a Supreme Court verdict on termination of the services of an incumbent of a tenure post.

On a petition by the former AIIMS Director, L.P. Aggarwal, challenging his termination, the Court had ruled that "once a person is appointed to a tenure post, ... the question of prematurely retiring him does not arise," Mr. Jaitley submitted. "The tenure post comes to an end on completion of the tenure unless curtailed on justifiable grounds."

As the governing body failed to show to the Court any justifiable ground for its decision, the action was mala fide, he said. The action was also in violation of the AIIMS Act, which said that before taking a decision on the fate of the Director, the governing body would serve a three-month notice.

Mr. Jaitley alleged that Dr. Ramadoss was trying to destroy the institute's autonomy .

Additional Solicitor-General Gopal Subramaniam said there was deep resentment among the faculty members against Dr. Venugopal's style of functioning.

The Government was in favour of giving him a graceful exit in view of the reputation he enjoyed but he refused to quit despite requests from the Health Secretary and other top bureaucrats.

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