Appointment of Additional Professor in Pediatric Surgery challenged in High Court
Cuttack: On the basis of a petition questioning the legality of the appointment and possible promotion of an additional Professor in Pediatric Surgery in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhubaneswar, the Orissa High Court has issued notice to the Central Government in this regard.
On Friday, the High Court vacation bench comprising of Chief Justice Dr. S. Muralidhar and Justice Savitri Rao has sent notice to the AIIMS, Deputy Director of AIIMS and the Professor in question as well.
The Counsel for Centre has accepted the notice and has stated to file a reply within six weeks. The Court, on the other hand, has asked the Professor in question to file a reply within four weeks.
This comes after, the petitioner, who is a retired Director of the Steel Authority of India filed the petition last month, five years after the questioned appointment, on the basis of procured information by one of his close friends under the Right to Information Act.
The petitioner has not only questioned the appointment of the said doctor back in April 2016, but has also expressed apprehension regarding the further promotion of the additional Professor as a Professor.
It has been submitted by the counsel for the petitioner that the promotion in question has been put on hold due to the ongoing Covid-19 situation. He also placed reliance upon a series of decisions of the Supreme Court including The University of Mysore v. C.D. Govinda Rao, N. Kannadasan v. Ajoy Khose and Central Electricity Supply Utility of Odisha v. Dhobei Sahoo.
Issuing notice to the concerned people and authorities, the HC bench asked the counsel for the petitioner to file rejoinder, if any, before the next date of hearing.
Posting the matter to be next heard on September 6, 2021, the High Court vacation bench clarified that all the steps taken by the Centre and AIIMS in the matter of promotion of the concerned additional Professor "will be subject to the outcome of the writ petition."
To view the original court order, click on the link below.
https://medicaldialogues.in/pdf_upload/orissa-high-court-155607.pdf
