59-year-old tainted Indian doctor Ketan Desai took over as the President of World Medical Association (WMA) on Friday. Even as he faces legal cases in India, a massive delegation of hundred doctors applauded cheerily as Desai took on the dias at Taipei in Taiwan.
Ironically, in his inaugural speech at WMA, Desai identified himself as a 'committed educational reformist,' and talked about how he was instrumental in putting tough medical regulations in place.
In a case filed in New Delhi in 2010, Desai faced corruption charges for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs2 crore from a medical college.
"There is only one case pending against Dr Desai at the moment in Delhi, over which the Supreme Court has issued a stay order," said Dr KK Agarwal, Incoming President of Indian Medical Association, New Delhi told DNA.
The hearings in the New Delhi case against Desai, however, are ongoing. SC has set the next date for the hearing on November 4 and has mandated that he be personally present for each hearing.
Doctors' community in India are vehemently opposing Desai's selection. "Desai was caught red-handed accepting bribe, along with the middleman by the CBI in the case of Gian Sagar Medical College in Rajpura, Punjab, where Desai had sanctioned increase of hundred seats. He was also jailed in the case. He has yet not been absolved of his charges. They are pending in the court. To make him the President of WMA gives a very wrong impression of Indian doctors to the world," said Dr Gurinder Grewal, President, Punjab Medical Council.
Interestingly, promoter of Gian Sagar Medical College and owner of Pearl Group, Nirmal Singh Bhangoo is currently behind bars over Rs45,000 crore scam for duping investors.
Following allegations, MCI had ordered state-body of Gujarat Medical Council (GMC) to cancel Desai's medical registration. "This never happened as Desai enjoys ample clout. GMC refused to execute MCI's orders," said Dr Grewal.
In 2010, following controversies, MCI was dissolved and a three-member committee headed by Justice Lodha was put in place to oversee its functioning.
Dr Desai's claims at WMA platform are contradictory to a scathing report tabled by the Parliamentary Standing Committee criticizing MCI of falling short of setting ethical standards in the field of medicine.
The report released earlier this year states: "If the MCI is aware of the fact that denial of recognition of a medical college or grant of seats and then its permission or reduction leads to corruption, then the committee wonders why it has failed to put in place a framework or system which can plug these loopholes?," reads the report of the same Parliamentary panel.
Dr Abhay Shukla, Alliance of Doctors for Ethical Healthcare (ADEH), said, "A person on whom serious corruption charges have been levelled and has a track record of being imprisoned briefly, is now President of WMA. This is a highly paradoxical situation. WMA is supposed to be promoting ethics in global community. Also, there lies a question mark on bodies such as Indian Medical Association who have promoted Dr Ketan Desai."
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