Kidney racket: Arrested doctor to appear before Medical Council

Chennai, Jul 31 (UNI) The Madras High Court today directed Palani Ravichandran, arrested by the Mumbai police in connection with a kidney racket, to appear before the Tamil Nadu Medical Council and explain his conduct in the whole matter.

Disposing of his petition against the notice issued by the Tamil Nadu unit of All India Medical Council, Justice K Chandru directed Ravichandran to appear for an inquiry and permitted his advocate to plead on behalf of him.

Based on a press release issued by the Mumbai police in October 2007 with regard to the arrest of Ravichandran, the Tamil Nadu Medical Council had sent a notice to the doctor, asking him to clarify his stand on the entire episode. The Medical Council had rejected his plea to allow his Counsel to plead on his behalf.

The case was based on a complaint filed by a donor from West Bengal, alleging that he had donated his kidney to a patient from Gujarat and the operation was performed by Ravichandran in Chennai. The complaint was filed in Mumbai on October three, 2007, with the name of the doctor not figuring in the FIR.

The Mumbai police, armed with an arrest warrant, had arrested Dr Ravichandran in Chennai and later decided to state in the court that the arrest was effected in Mumbai on October 8. The Mumbai police then issued a press release, stating that such illegal operations were performed by the doctor in many hospitals in Chennai and kidneys were sold for a price ranging from Rs 12 lakh to Rs 15 lakh.

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