Click to play videoNew Delhi: Dr P Venugopal is back on his seat as the director of AIIMS. He has been reinstated by the Supreme Court, a move that's wiped the smile off the Health Minister, Anbumani Ramadoss's face.
For Anbumani Ramadoss, it's a huge embarrassment. The Health Minister was instrumental in amending the law that removed Venugopal from AIIMS by restricting the age of the director of the institute to 65 years.
However, the apex court struck down the amendment after Dr Venugopal challenged it. He now says that the verdict is a victory for the institution.
The doctor will now be AIIMS director till July this year and for the institutes's doctors who were backing him, it was a big win.
President AIIMS Resident Doctors' Association, Dr Harsh says,
Dr Venugopal has come out victorious in his battle against the Union Health Minister, but in this fight of individuals, AIIMS has lost credibility as an institution.
Meanwhile, an embarrassed Ramadoss passed the blame on to the entire Government.
"The amendment was the decision of the Government that was passed by Parliament. It wasn't my personal decision," he stated after the Supreme Court announced its verdict.
That's not all the Superme Court has done. It has also come down heavily on the Government for trying to intervene with the workings of an autonomous body.
Dr Venugopal's lawyer, Maninder Singh says, "The court is giving a clear indication that autonomous institutes should be left alone."
With the AIIMS drama finally coming to an end, doctors are hoping to get back to medicine after two years of politics.
(With inputs from Divya Iyer in New Delhi)
THE BITTER BATTLE | |
 | Dr Venugopal was appointed AIIMS Director on July 3rd 2003 for a five-year term. |
| In June 2006, Ramadoss accused Dr Venugopal of defying orders and supporting the anti-OBC reservation agitation. |
| He also accused Dr Venugopal of discriminating against OBC and SC/ST students in AIIMS. |
| In November, the AIIMS Amendment Bill 2007 was passed, fixing the AIIMS director's maximum age at 65 years and the 66-year-old Venugopal was sacked from his post. |
| He moved the Supreme Court challenging the order, where former Law Minister Arun Jaitley argued on his behalf that the Act was illegal because the Delhi High Court had in March last year upheld his continuation in the post. |
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