West Bengal Medical Council suspends Shantanu Sen’s registration as doc for 2 yrs

WBMC, the apex body of medical practitioners in West Bengal, is headed by TMC legislator Dr Sudipta Kumar Ray who is close to the chief minister

KOLKATA: The West Bengal Medical Council (WBMC) on Friday suspended former Rajya Sabha member Dr Santanu Sen’s registration as a doctor for two years, prompting the 52-year-old politician to approach the high court.

Santanu Sen, who was removed from West Bengal’s list of doctors, has been a former president of the Indian Medical Association.

“This is to inform you that the WBMC found you guilty of infamous conduct in a professional respect and decided that the name of Dr Santanu Sen be removed from the register of registered medical practitioners maintained by the WBMC for a period of two years,” the letter sent to Sen by the council’s registrar on Friday said.

WBMC is the apex body of medical practitioners in the eastern state. Dr Sudipta Kumar Ray, TMC legislator who is known to be close to TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, heads the council.

The move comes months after the TMC suspended Shantanu Sen from the party on charges of indulging in anti-party activities. Sen had criticised the Mamata Banerjee-led government’s handling of the rape and murder case of a junior doctor in RG Kar Hospital in August 2024.

WBMC later sent a show cause notice to Sen over the use of Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP) on his letterhead without registering the qualification with the council.

In its letter on Friday, WBMC said, ”Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP) is just a fellowship and not a degree. Dr Sen was writing this fellowship on his letterhead along with MBBS and post-graduation. This was misleading as patients would take it as a foreign degree. This is an infamous conduct”.

Sen moved the Calcutta high court against the WBMC decision. Justice Amrita Sinha said the matter would come up for hearing on Monday, news agency PTI said.

Sen said he hadn’t received any communication from the council but had heard about the decision from the media. “If anyone tries to snatch my hard-earned registration in an unjustified manner, I am not going to sit idle at home. The allegation against me is baseless. I have already paid the required fees to register my FRCP with the council,” said Sen.