top of page

By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Plea in HC for fresh polls, new body

Dr. Rumi F. Beramji Mumbai : A senior medical practitioner has knocked on the doors of the Bombay High Court, alleging serious irregularities in the functioning of the Maharashtra Council of Acupuncture (MCA) and challenging the continuation of its current Administrator.   In a petition filed through Advocate Sharad V. Natu, Dr. Laxman Bhimrao Sawant has termed the appointment and prolonged tenure of former MCA Chairman as “illegal and arbitrary,”  and detrimental to the cause of Acupuncture....

Plea in HC for fresh polls, new body

Dr. Rumi F. Beramji Mumbai : A senior medical practitioner has knocked on the doors of the Bombay High Court, alleging serious irregularities in the functioning of the Maharashtra Council of Acupuncture (MCA) and challenging the continuation of its current Administrator.   In a petition filed through Advocate Sharad V. Natu, Dr. Laxman Bhimrao Sawant has termed the appointment and prolonged tenure of former MCA Chairman as “illegal and arbitrary,”  and detrimental to the cause of Acupuncture.   Dr. Beramji, who headed the five-member statutory body 's inaugural term (from May 2018 to May 2023), was subsequently appointed as its Administrator after the council’s term expired.   According to Dr. Sawant’s plea, the Administrator’s appointment was initially meant to be a stop-gap arrangement for one year, and it was ‘extended’ later. However, nearly three years later, the position continues without fresh elections being conducted, raising questions over adherence to statutory norms and principles of governance.   Dr. Sawant has 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 Beramji was installed as Administrator, the remaining members of the council were effectively superseded, leaving the regulatory body without its mandated collective structure, and over 6500-members directionless.   The petition claims that the delay in conducting elections was justified on the grounds of an incomplete voter list, but this reason was flimsy considering the extended time lapse.   The petition, likely to come up for hearing on Tuesday (April 21), also levelled serious allegations regarding the manner in which the MCA has been run under the Administrator. It claims decisions have been taken unilaterally, whimsically and without transparency or institutional accountability.   Besides, Dr. Sawant has made allegations of selective targeting of certain members who have attempted to raise valid issues, including the globally-renowned noted acupuncture expert Dr. P. B. Lohiya of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.   Adding to the controversy, a former MCA office-bearer has claimed that over the past three years, approvals were granted to more than a dozen acupuncture colleges in undue haste, purportedly in violation of prescribed norms and alleged shady deals.   These institutions, it is claimed, either exist only on paper or lack essential infrastructure, faculty, and facilities. In addition, around two dozen Continuous Acupuncture Education (CAE) centres were also cleared during this period.   In his multiple prayers to the high court, Dr. Sawant has sought quashing Dr. Beramji’s appointment as MCA Administrator and setting aside all policy decisions taken during his tenure in that capacity in the last three years.   The petition also urged the court to direct the state government to conduct elections to elect and reconstitute a new five-member MCA within two months.   Pending this, the plea seeks an order restraining the Administrator from continuing in office or interfering in the functioning of the MCA or the CAEs in the interest of free and fair elections or the cause of Acupuncture.   Sources within the MCA have described the situation as “deeply concerning,” alleging that individuals of international standing, such as Dr. Lohiya - who has treated prominent personalities like Sachin Tendulkar, the late Manoj Kumar, state and central ministers and other public figures - are being unfairly hounded.   The petition has called for a comprehensive review of all decisions taken during the Administrator’s tenure, a financial audit of the MCA’s financial affairs, and an independent probe by the Medical Education & Drugs Department (MEDD) into the approvals granted to the institutions in recent years.   Despite repeated attempts by  ‘ The Perfect Voice’ , top MCA officials like the Administrator or the Registrar Narayan Nawale, were not available for their comments.

Hang the killer, probe case afresh: Kin

Kolhapur / Mumbai: A day after a Panvel Court verdict giving the life-sentence to an ex-cop for brutally killing his lover and a police-woman Ashwini Bidre-Gore, her kin has demanded the hangman’s noose for him, here on Tuesday.

 

Simultaneously, the Gore and Bidre family will seek to reopen the sensational case for a fresh probe into the case to establish the role of the errant police officials who allegedly carried out a shoddy investigation nine years ago when Ashwini was murdered, her body chopped into pieces, stuffed into bags and a sack, and then thrown into the Thane Creek near Vasai.

 

The victim’s husband Raju Gore and his daughter Siddhi, 16 as well members of the Gore and Bidre family are unanimous that the convict – Abhay Kurundkar should be given the capital punishment for the gory crime, without any future privileges like parole, furloughs, etc.

 

“We are satisfied by the justice done to Ashwini, but feel let down by the life sentence to Kurundkar for the heinous crime he and others committed. The entire town and district of Kolhapur also feel likewise. If the government does not allow an appeal, then we shall file an independent petition in the Bombay High Court,” a determined Raju Gore told ‘The Perfect Voice’.

 

He lauded the role of the (then) Deputy Superintendent of Police Sangeet Shinde-Alphonso for carrying out the meticulous probe involving tech-intel, witnesses and other evidence since “the body was never traced”, but claimed that now the officer has been ‘sidelined’.

 

The Special Public Prosecutor Pradip D. Gharat has already said that the prosecution would file an appeal for the death sentence to Kurundkar, plus enhanced punishment for his two accomplices Kundan Bhandari and Mahesh Falnikar (who got 7 years in jail each).

 

Simultaneously, the defense lawyer Vishal Bhanushali told ‘The Perfect Voice’ that they plan to challenge the verdict in the high court on various grounds, after studying the judgement delivered by Panvel Court Sessions Judge K. G. Paldewar.

 

“We adhered to the full legal procedures, highest standards of fairness and due process although there was formidable evidence against his client Kurundkar in the high-profile case,” said Bhanushali.

 

How a murder suspect was named for a national honour?

The victim’s husband Raju Gore, a farmer, said that though the convict Kurundkar was already under a cloud for months before his arrest, “how did the state government and police department initiate the process to recommend him for the President’s Gallantry Medal for 2017”.

 

“The entire procedures, all the officials, both police and civilian must be investigated, what compulsions prompted them to push (the convict’s) name, the related circumstances, etc.,” demanded Gore, the 9-year-old matter.

 

Kurundkar, then a Senior Police Inspector with Thane Rural Police was nominated for the top award in Jan. 2017, but was later arrested and the honour revoked.

 

In the verdict, the Court also expressed its ire over the developments, which now the Gore-Bidre families want to be investigated and all the culprits booked under criminal charges.

 

Ashwini’s killing shattered the two families. Her mother Nirmala went into shock and died three years ago, her brother Anand settled abroad has returned to India to look after his father Jaikumar.

 

Gore’s daughter, 16, has appeared for her SSC exams and has set her eyes to first pursue a degree in medicine and later crack the UPSC.

Comments

bottom of page