HC clears Dr Adhao’s candidature for MCI post

Nagpur: Despite being the official candidate of the state chapter of Indian Medical Association (IMA) for the elections to Medical Council of India (MCI), Dr Ashok Adhao’s candidature was rejected by the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER). He filed a petition against this in Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court that on Thursday reinstated his candidature.
The nomination of Dr Adhao from Registered Medical Gradautes’ constituency in Maharashtra was rejected by DMER on February 27.The reason given was that the proposer and seconder had not mentioned their qualifications beneath their signatures. Dr Adhao, a former national president of IMA, filed a petition against this decision of DMER the next day. A division bench of Justices Bhushan Gavai and Mrudula Bhatkar agreed with the plea it was not a substantial ground for rejecting nomination.
“He fulfilled all eligibility criteria for being able to vote and contest the said elections. It was not any mistake of his that was cited as the reason for rejecting his nomination. Moreover, the said deficiency on the nomination papers was a comparatively small one that could be sorted out without rejecting the nomination altogether,” said advocate Anand Parchure, who appeared for Dr Adhao. He added it was fair and just that the court objected to the hyper-technical ground of rejecting Dr Adhao’s nominations.
The decision has made the medical fraternity of the city very happy. It cleared the way for Dr Adhao, who is also the patron of the local chapter of IMA, to contest for becoming the state’s representative on the MCI. President of IMA, Nagpur Dr Sanjay Deshpande, said the decision was welcomed by his organization as Dr Adhao had been known to fight for the causes of the medical fraternity as well as social issues.