HC directs WBMC Registrar to resign by today

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed registrar of the West Bengal Medical Council (WBMC), to voluntarily resign from his position by 5 p.m. on January 31. The court noted that he had been holding the post for over five years, despite retiring in 2019, and without the necessary approval from the state government..

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday ordered the West Bengal Medical Council's Registrar Manas Chakraborty to immediately vacate the post.

A division bench of Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya has also cautioned Chakraborty that unless he himself resigns by 5 p.m. on Friday (January 31), he will be removed from the position by the court. 

According to an IANS report, the court gave this direction following the observation that he had been occupying that chair for five years even after his retirement. It also questioned how he could continue in that chair for such a long time without approval from the state government.

Although Chakraborty’s term as the West Bengal Medical Council Registrar ended in November 2019, he continued occupying the chair even after that. As per the provision of the Bengal Medical Act, 1914, the prior approval of the state government is necessary for the extension of anybody’s term in that chair – a practice which was not followed in the case of Chakraborty.

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The division bench gave this direction on Thursday acting on a petition filed at the court challenging the extended tenure of Chakraborty as well as accusing rampant irregularities in the functioning of the council during his term, reports IANS.

While giving the direction for the immediate removal of Chakraborty from his chair, the division bench observed that the status of the state medical council cannot be above the state government.

Since the members of the council are in a noble profession, they should act accordingly, the division bench further observed.

Chakraborty had recently faced criticism for issuing a show-cause notice to Asfaqulla Naiya, a prominent figure in the junior doctors’ movement over the R.G. Kar rape and murder case. Naiya was accused of conducting private practice as an ENT specialist without possessing the necessary degree.

A police investigation was also started against Naiya. However, a single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court earlier this month had provided him with an interim shield against any coercive police action against him, including arrest.

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