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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

HC orders fresh elections in three months

Dr. Rumi F. Beramji Mumbai: In a jolt, the Bombay High Court has directed the state government to hold elections to the Maharashtra Council of Acupuncture (MCA) - which is managed by an Administrator for past three years – within three months, here on Friday. A division bench of the Bombay High Court (Aurangabad Bench) comprising Justice Ajit Kadethankar and Justice Vibha Kankanwadi were disposing off a petition filed a senior medical practitioner, Dr. Laxman Bhimrao Sawant through his...

HC orders fresh elections in three months

Dr. Rumi F. Beramji Mumbai : In a jolt, the Bombay High Court has directed the state government to hold elections to the Maharashtra Council of Acupuncture (MCA) - which is managed by an Administrator for past three years – within three months, here on Friday.   A division bench of the Bombay High Court (Aurangabad Bench) comprising Justice Ajit Kadethankar and Justice Vibha Kankanwadi were disposing off a petition filed a senior medical practitioner, Dr. Laxman Bhimrao Sawant through his lawyer Sharad V. Natu, seeking different reliefs.   These included alleged serious irregularities in the functioning of the MCA and challenging the continuation of the Administrator for a prolonged period pending the elections. The matter was highlighted in detail by  ‘ The Perfect Voice’   on April 21.   Strong Observations In its order uploaded today, Justice Kadethankar and Justice Kankanwadi noted the petitioner’s contentions that the Administrator, Dr. Rumi F. Beramji was appointed for only one year, and that period is over.   “It should be the endeavour of the State to implement the various provisions of the Act, that is, the Maharashtra Acupuncture System of Therapy Act, 2015. Holding of elections and formation of the council as per Section 3 of the said Act should be adhered to by the State Government and it cannot be then postponed in infinity,” said the court.   Accordingly, Justice Kadethankar and Justice Kankanwadi directed the state government, through the Medical Education & Drugs Department (MEDD) to conduct the MCA elections within a period of three months.   Prolonged Tenure Among other things, the petitioner had termed the appointment and prolonged tenure of former MCA Chairman Dr. Rumi F. Beramji as “illegal and arbitrary,” and detrimental to the cause of Acupuncture.   Elected as the inaugural head (May 2018-May 2023) of the five-member statutory body, Dr. Beramji, was subsequently appointed its Administrator after the MCA’s term expired.   Adv. Natu pointed out that the Administrator’s appointment was intended to be a stop-gap arrangement for one year to facilitate the polls, but it was subsequently ‘extended’. However, nearly three years later, Dr. Beramji continued without fresh elections being conducted, raising questions over adherence to statutory norms and principles of governance.   Directionless Members Dr. Sawant further contended that while Dr. Beramji was installed as Administrator, the remaining members of the council were effectively superseded, leaving the regulatory body without its mandated collective structure, and over 6500-members directionless.   He argued that the excuse cited for delay in conducting elections was ostensibly an incomplete voter list, but this reason was flimsy considering the extended time lapse.   The petition, which was heard and disposed of on April 22, also levelled serious allegations against the style of functioning of the MCA Administrator, decisions were taken unilaterally, whimsically and without transparency or institutional accountability.   Selective Targeting It also made accusations of ‘selective targeting’ of certain prominent members who attempted to raise valid issues, including the globally-renowned noted acupuncture expert Dr. P. B. Lohiya of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.   Other members raised doubts over approvals granted to more than a dozen acupuncture colleges and some two dozen Continuous Acupuncture Education (CAE) centres in undue haste, purportedly in violation of prescribed norms and alleged shady deals. Many of these institutions, it was claimed, either exist only on paper or lack essential infrastructure, faculty and facilities.   The petitioner called for a comprehensive review of the Administrator’s tenure, a financial audit of the MCA's affairs, and an independent probe by the MEDD into the approvals granted to the institutions in recent years.   Dr. Sawant had sought quashing Dr. Beramji’s appointment as MCA Administrator and setting aside all policy decisions taken during his tenure in the last three years, and ordering the government to hold elections to the body.

A tiger safari in Goa?

It’s difficult to imagine going to Goa for, of all things, a tiger safari. A tiger safari is associated with places like Tadoba National park in Maharashtra, Corbett or Dudhwa national park in the Terai belt of Uttar Pradesh. Yet if the people of Goa had their way, the Mhadei Wildlife in North Goa could be the country’s 56th Tiger Reserve. But the government is yet to notify the area as such despite demands of the state’s environmentalists and the fact that the National Tiger Conservation Authority which does tiger censuses, has asked the state government to declare Mhadei as a tiger reserve based on the numbers of tigers seen.


The Mhadei sanctuary is located in Valpoi village, 40 km from Panaji, the state’s capital. Spread over 208 sq. km. It plays a key part in the preservation of the biodiversity of the Western Ghats.


So to support the people’s wishes, it appears the tigers themselves made an unexpected appearance recently. Reports suggest that a tigress and three cubs were seen at Chorla ghat. Their presence was confirmed through night vision cameras installed by the forest department. A local news report suggested that tiger faeces were seen. This is, therefore, credible evidence that the Mhadei sanctuary is located in a tiger belt that connects the animal’s habitats in neighbouring states.


Any environmentalist would tell you that these magnificent creatures respect no state or human-made boundaries. Yet, it remains to be seen why the authorities are dragging their feet on declaring Mhadei reserve as a tiger sanctuary and preserving for generations, India’s national animal.


This writer had the privilege of meeting Billy Arjan Singh as a young Reader’s Digest researcher way back in 1992 at Dudhwa national park which itself was set up thanks to the efforts of Singh who was once a hunter but turned to conservation. He did his best to save the tigers from, ironically, human predators, and won international accolades for his work. Singh wrote many books on his experiences trying to save the tiger, and among his most popular is Tiger Haven,


It is not as if declaring Mhadei as a tiger sanctuary will mean tourists will start to make a beeline for the area. It’s still the beaches that largely draw visitors to this state. Yet by declaring Mhadei as a tiger reserve, we give our national animal a chance to live longer on the sub-continent, and enthral us for many more decades to come. Under Project Tiger, the numbers of this animal are estimated at over 3600 tigers in the wild. We need to do everything to preserve the tiger’s habitats, and give them a chance to live in peaceful co-existence with humans.


(The author is a senior journalist based in Goa. Views personal.)

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