HC to hear on Dr Venugopal's ouster on October 16

New Delhi, Oct 10 (UNI) Two days before the crucial meeting of the Institute Body (IB) of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), the Delhi High Court today fixed October 16 to hear the petition of its Director Dr P Venugopal which he alleged was called to oust him from the post.

When Senior Counsel Arun Jaitley appearing for Dr Venugopal submitted that the meeting was called on October 18 by Union Health Minister and AIIMS President Anbumani Ramadoss to remove him from the post of director, Justice Anil Kumar said the petition would be heard on October 16.

Mr Ramadoss had sent a communication on September 21 for a meeting of the Institute Body(IB) to be held on October 10, 2006 without mentioning any agenda.

As the Secretary of the IB, Dr Venugopal was asked to circulate the notice to the members to attend the crucial meeting.

When the Minister was asked to mention about the agenda, he said there was no need to circulate agenda while serving the notice, said the application.

The meeting of the IB was scheduled to be held at Nirman Bhawan, the headquarters of the Union Ministry of Health.

Dr Venugopal alleged that the Minister appointed A Rajasekharan, one of his close relatives, as the President of the National Board of Examination (NBE) and President of NBE Shyam Prasad was obliged with a membership of the IB.

It was presumed that the IB would take a decision for the ouster of Dr Venugopal.

He said a petition was pending before the High Court seeking direction for the removal of the Union Health Minister and Health Secretary from holding posts in the Institute Governing Body.

In a petition filed by Counsel Sugiv Dubey and Namita Roy, for petitioner Dr S S Kale and others alleged that a Parliamentary Committee in 1996 had said there would be no autonomy in the AIIMS if both the Minister and Secretary were in the Institute Body.

UNI PAT SHB KP1912