Losing sight of a moral compass
Majoritarian logic has no place in a plural society, argue Shivanshu K Srivastava and Nupur Chaurasiya
The Allahabad High Court has stayed the UP government’s order of July 2019, by which Kafeel Ahmad Khan, a pediatrician, was suspended on charges that he had forcibly treated patients at the Bahraich district hospital and criticized the policies of the government.
This was the second time Khan was suspended by the state government. He was already under suspension following the August 2017 tragedy at BRD Medical College at Gorakhpur, where 60 children had died due to alleged disruption in oxygen supply.
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Hearing the petition of Khan, in which he had assailed his suspension order on the ground that no inquiry had been concluded against him even after more than two years, Justice Saral Srivastava directed the UP government to conclude the probe related to the 2019 suspension within a month.
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The court further directed that the petitioner shall cooperate in the inquiry and in case the petitioner does not cooperate, the disciplinary authority may proceed to conclude the inquiry ex-parte.
Khan’s lawyer argued that there was no rule that permits the state government to issue second suspension order against him when he was already under suspension.
However, Additional Chief Standing Counsel AK Goel, on behalf of the government, told the High Court that the inquiry report against Khan was submitted on August 27, 2021, and a copy was sent to him a day later.
While directing to list the case on November 11, 2021, the court said that when the matter is next listed, the respondents shall inform the court about the outcome of the inquiry. Besides, the court gave the respondent state authorities four weeks’ time to file a reply (counter-affidavit).
Khan, during his suspension in August 2017, had been attached to the office of the Director-General Medical Education (DGME) office of Lucknow.
During the period, he visited the Bahraich hospital claiming that he was called by the public to treat children affected by Japanese encephalitis.
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