Celebrity dermatologist in soup for allegedly practising with fake medical degree, Running Clinic sans Valid Registration from Medical Council

Mumbai: A celebrity dermatologist in Bandra was recently booked by police for running a clinic without any valid registration from the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC). Further, the doctor was allegedly also displaying a forged medical degree in her clinic.

Bandra Police have booked the doctor for forgery and cheating as well as under the Maharashtra Medical Practitioners Act. The accused doctor is married to an actor and her clinic on Linking Road is frequented by several renowned celebrities.

The FIR was registered against the doctor after Dr Chavan, the assistant medical officer at Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) received a tipoff and visited the dermatology clinic in Bandra (W) along with the police.

When the accused doctor was asked to produce her certificates, the team conducted an online verification and discovered that the certificates were not issued in her name.

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They found that the certificate issued by the State Medical Council was in the name of Dr. Tandon, the one issued by the Maine Board of Licensure in Medicine Medical Doctor License was in the name of Dr Dhaliwal, and in the certificate issued by the Medical Council of India, the name was mentioned as Dr. Tandon Jagat Dhaliwal, adds the Times of India.

As per the latest media report by the Hindustan Times, the BMC officials of H West Ward made a written complaint against the doctor. They informed that after consulting the matter with MMC, they were informed that no dermatologist by the name of the accused doctor was registered with them. 

The Daily further adds that the BMC officials also raided the premises of the clinic along with the police to take a look at the certificates on display at the clinic as per the MMC norms. The accused doctor's husband, who is an actor was also present during the raid.

Commenting on the matter, an officer from Bandra Police told HT, “At first, she refuted the claims of her certificates being fake. She also showed us the registration issued in 2014 where she was named Dr Rupinder Tandon. Another licence identified her as *** Dhaliwal. The registration from Medical Council of India that she presented named her as Dr *** Tandon Jagat Dhaliwal.”

HT adds that the officials looked for her name against the registration number provided on the MCI website but did not find any match. Therefore, the officials had proof that two of the three practising licences were fake.

“Based on these findings, we have booked Dr Tandon under sections 419 (cheating by personification), 420 (cheating and dishonesty), 465 (forgery), 467 (forgery of document making the person authorised for financial transactions), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating) and 471 (presenting fake documents as genuine) of the Indian Penal Code and under the Maharashtra Medical Practitioners Act,” said the official.

Although no arrest was made till Wednesday, senior inspector Sanjay Marathe told the Times of India, "They have been sent for verification to the medical council. If found to be fake, action will be initiated against her."

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