The Centre suffered an embarrassment when Delhi HC stayed the controversial move by Health Minister Ramadoss to sack Venugopal.
NEW DELHI: The Centre on Friday suffered an embarrassment when the Delhi High Court stayed the controversial move by Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss to sack All India Institute of Medical Sciences Director P Venugopal.
Hours after Justice Anil Kumar granted the stay, AIIMS' resident doctors and faculty members, who went on strike on Wednesday to protest the move to dismiss Venugopal, suspended the agitation and resumed work immediately.
Responding to the High Court order, Ramadoss said "all legal course of action", including an appeal in the Supreme Court, will be taken against the stay on the removal of Venugopal while the AIIMS director announced he would attend office on Saturday and vowed to fight on for the autonomy of the institute.
Granting the stay on Venugopal's petition challenging the recommendation by AIIMS apex body headed by Ramadoss to dismiss him, Justice Anil Kumar directed the Centre and the AIIMS to file their replies within two weeks on the matter.
He issued a notice to the Election Commission on Venugopal's petition, seeking Ramadoss' disqualification from Parliament on the ground that the minister by being the President of the Institute was guilty of holding an "office of profit."
Justice Kumar ordered the stay in a packed court room after three hours of arguments by Additonal Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam, who appeared for the Centre, and senior counsel Arun Jaitley who represented Venugopal.
The additional solicitor general disclosed to the court at the end of his arguments that the government had asked Venugopal to gracefully resign and only when he refused to do so, a decision was taken to terminate his services.
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