Medical Council of India Secretary's appointment under clout

New Delhi: It's been a year since the Medical Council of India (MCI) was dissolved and its president Ketan Desai arrested. But it seems the rot in the MCI has yet to be cleaned out. A case in point is Dr Sangeeta Sharma, the senior most officer in the MCI.

CNN-IBN accessed documents that prove that the Health Ministry raised questions about the validity of her appointment as secretary.

In a letter to the MCI's board of directors, the Health Ministry asked why an approval was not sought from the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet for the Secretary's appointment. The Ministry also asked did Dr Sangeeta Sharma have the needed 16 years experience, including 10 years of teaching at a medical college? If a Vigilance Clearance/Integrity Certificate was obtained in the alleged cases of corruption against her and the MCI board claimed that as an autonomous body; it did not need ACC approval.

When CNN-IBN contacted Dr Sangeeta Sharma on June 22 for clarifications, she said she had resigned after harassment by the Board of Governors.

Sharma said, "These things needed to be looked at, at the time of appointment, why are they digging up these issues now?"

It now appears though that Dr Sharma had no intention of resigning. In fact she applied for medical leave on the same day that CNN-IBN contacted her. She also denied having any corruption cases against her.

"I have no corruption cases, no vigilance enquiry nothing against me…I have a clean record, " added Sharma.

But CNN-IBN accessed a confidential letter written by CBI Joint Director HC Awasthy to Health Secretary Chandramoily, stating how Dr Sangeeta Sharma, entered into a criminal conspiracy to favour a private company, for purchasing medical equipment for IHBAS, where she was formerly employed. The letter says a case can be made out against her.

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