No question of resignation over SC's order: Ramadoss

New Delhi, May 8 : 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