The Bombay High Court has stayed the transfer of Dean of Government Medical College (GMC) and Hospital here while pulling up the state authorities for the “malafide” act.
A division bench of Justices Bhushan Gavai and Pradeep Deshmukh here yesterday, stayed the transfer of the dean, Dr Abhimanyu Niswade and asked him to resume duty immediately.
The HC also stayed the transfer of secretary ofMaharashtra State Medical Teachers Association (MSMTA) from GMCH, Dr Sameer Golawar.
Niswade was shunted out as a fallout of a case in connection to Dr Makrand Vyawahare, head of GMCH’s Forensic Science Department, whom students have accused of sexual and mental harassment.
Both Niswade and Golawar were allegedly shunted out on Vyawahare’s complaint that they were instigating students against him.
The court issued notice to 11 respondents, including state ministers and Secretary of Medical Education and Drugs Department, asking them to reply before December 3, fixed as the next date of hearing.
The ministers named in the PIL are Sudhir Mungantiwar (Finance) and Vinod Tawade (Higher and Technical Education).
Mumbai-based Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), Medical Education Director Pravin Shingare, Commissioner of Police, Nagpur and Police Inspector of Ajni, besides Dr Vyawahare, Dr Niswade, Dr Golawar and Dr Pradeep Dixit, holding additional charge of GMC Dean, are other respondents in the PIL.
The PIL has been filed by a social worker Trisharan Sahare through senior counsel Sunil Manohar and Akshay Naik.
While passing strictures against the senior Cabinet ministers, the judges remarked that Niswade’s shunting was done with malafide intention by the authorities.
They said that the respondents were favouring Vyawahare as he was a close relative of one of the ministers.
“People’s representatives should work in people’s interests and should give it a priority before making such moves,” the judges said.
Citing service rules, Justices Gavai and Deshmukh said that midterm transfers were carried out with a concrete reason but in Niswade’s case, it was mentioned “for administrative reasons” without any explanation.
The court said that ever since Niswade took over as GMC
Dean last year, there had been a dramatic change in the overall functioning and even the Chief Secretary had applauded the dean’s efforts.
The petitioner alleged that two state ministers were protecting Vyawahare even though the latter was facing serious allegations of sexual harassment and torture from a female student.
He said that refusal of Ajni Police station to lodge an FIR against Vyawahare clearly indicated that the entire medical system had been held to ransom by the respondents, including the ministers.
The fallout of DMER’s illegal actions in protecting Vyawahare had resulted into Niswade and Golawar being transferred as they refused to bow to diktats of superiors, he alleged.
The petitioner claimed the transfers would adversely affect the functioning and development programmes of GMC.
He prayed for a directive to respondents to reconstitute women’s complaint redressal committee in GMC.
( Source – PTI )
