CIC orders medical council to disclose info on Ketan Desai

The Central Information Commission (CIC) has asked the Medical Council of India (MCI) to disclose information on its scam-tainted past president Ketan Desai.

In October 2016, Desai became the president of the World Medical Association (WMA) on the basis of the clean chit given by some of the MCI members, who did not provide correct facts on the corruption cases involving Desai to the international body.

The CIC last month directed the MCI to release the documents on the basis of which he was exonerated.

The CIC gave its ruling on a petition filed by US-based doctor Kunal Saha who campaigns against corruption in India’s healthcare sector.

Both MCI and Saha presented their arguments before the transparency watchdog, which gave the MCI three weeks of time to comply with its order.

Desai’s name was recommended to the WMA by the Indian Medical Association  which the Gujarat-based urologist headed between 2001 and 2003.

In April 2010, Desai was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on corruption charges related to sanctioning of new medical colleges. His registration to practise as a doctor in India was also cancelled. Subsequently, five other cases also came to the CBI for investigation.

After four years, the CBI filed closure reports in four out of the six cases, leaving the remaining two for trials by two courts in Delhi and Lucknow.

“The CBI case in Delhi against Desai was last heard on November 5, 2016 and the next hearing is on February 6. The criminal case against him in Lucknow is also pending,” Kunal Saha told DH.

The MCI, for its part, claimed that it revoked the suspension of Desai following a specific section of the MCI Act, which says a doctor’s registration cannot be cancelled unless the person is convicted.