Former MMC member moves high court against CPS petition

Dr Suhas Pingle opposes a petition filed by the College of Physicians and Surgeons challenging the government's decision to de-recognise some postgraduate courses. Dr Pingle claims that the College used small hospitals lacking infrastructure and equipment for training, and that there was no transparency in admissions and examinations. He argues that the College should be shut down or taken over by the government to maintain standards. The matter is scheduled for a hearing on November 1.

Dr Suhas Pingle, a former member of the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC), recently approached the Bombay high court opposing the petition filed by the College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPS), which has challenged the decision of the state government to de-recognise some of the postgraduate courses offered by the institute.

Former MMC member moves high court against CPS petition

In his plea, filed through advocate Madhav Thorat, Dr Pingle said that he came to know CPS used small hospitals like clinics for training and teaching students before conferring its medical degrees.

These clinics/hospitals, he said, lacked essential infrastructure, equipment, teaching and non-teaching staff. “No transparency was maintained while admitting the students to various postgraduate courses and in conducting the examination and evaluation of answer sheets.” Many students were given passing certificates despite failing examinations, the plea claimed.

The Medical Council of India had in 2000 recommended de-recognising CPS courses, and later de-recognised 11 courses, the petitioner said. “Unfortunately, because of the influence CPS and its office-bearers had on the government, the state in 2011 included the de-recognised courses in the MMC schedule. MMC was then under the administrator’s rule.”

“In short, the state illegally and without visiting any hospitals and/or clinics, where the students are claimed to have been trained for CPS courses, included the 11 courses, which were de-recognised by the Medical Council of India, in the MMC schedule,” the plea said, highlighting how these courses were recognised only in Maharashtra.

Dr Pingle also said that under the existing legal regime regulating medical education in the country even the state government could not offer undergraduate and/or postgraduate medical courses without applying to the Centre and/or the National Medical Commission, but CPS, a registered society, had been conferred “superior rights” to grant permissions to private hospitals and clinics for starting medical courses.

Dr Pingle, former president of Maharashtra chapter of the Indian Medical Association, has opposed CPS’s petition on grounds that “in larger public interest” of maintaining standards of medical education it is necessary that CPS either be shut down or taken over by the state government.

He has also sought HC’s permission to intervene in the matter to “highlight many more irregularities and illegalities in the majority of hospitals and clinics recognised and/or approved by CPS as training and/or teaching centres for conferment of postgraduation qualifications.”

“If allowed to intervene the applicant can also highlight in detail how the students are admitted to CPS courses and how they are allowed to appear for examinations without there being any postgraduation teachers,” the petition added.

CPS has challenged an order passed by the secretary, medical education and drugs department, on July 13, de-recognising some of their degrees.

Advocate Thorat said the matter is scheduled to come up for hearing on November 1 before a division bench headed by justice Sunil Shukre.