No pre-arrest bail to doctor booked for fake degree

The sessions court recently rejected the anticipatory bail application of one of the 42 doctors booked by the Agripada police for allegedly practicing with fake degrees by submitting forged documents to the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC)

MUMBAI: The sessions court recently rejected the anticipatory bail application of one of the 42 doctors booked by the Agripada police for allegedly practicing with fake degrees by submitting forged documents to the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC), a quasi-judicial body overseeing medical education in the state.

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Additional sessions judge Anil D Salunkhe, while rejecting the plea of Sushil Manwatkar, observed that the act was against the dignity and honour of the medical profession.

As per the prosecution, the incident came to light when the doctor, registered with the MMC as MD Physician of Crimea, State Medical University, Ukraine, applied for additional qualification registration as an Orthopedic in 2014.

In 2016, the council staff found discrepancies in the passing certificate of his additional qualification, purportedly issued by the College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPS). When the council investigated the matter, it was found that the doctor, among others, did not receive any certificate from the CPS, and had applied for additional qualification by submitting fake and bogus certificates.

The doctor’s license was suspended by the council for one year after this came to light. Apprehending arrest in the case, the doctor had applied for pre-arrest bail. His lawyer Abhijeet Desai submitted that the doctor was not involved in creating a fake certificate, while noting that the investigating officer never took any action against the authority who created the alleged fake records.

The lawyer further argued that the officials did not find evidence against the accused despite the case being registered in 2021, while noting that the police started calling and harassing the doctors recently.

Additional public prosecutor Ramesh Siroya opposed the plea, submitting that the doctor was avoiding interrogation, and the investigation revealed the doctor’s role along with others to acquire the fake certificate, which was used against the safety of public health.

The court observed that the doctor was found guilty of submitting fake certificates of diploma in orthopedic, despite not being qualified in the same, before the Inquiry committee of the council and the public. Stating that the doctor’s custodial interrogation is necessary, the judge observed that he “tried to mislead the Maharashtra Medical Council, its staff, society at large and disobeyed the law.”

The court last month had rejected the anticipatory bail plea of another doctor, Bhushan Rathi, booked by the Agripada police for allegedly submitting a fake passing certificate regarding his additional qualification - Diploma in Child Health - from CPS.