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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 Beramji was installed as Administrator, the remaining members of the council were effectively superseded, leaving the regulatory body without its mandated collective structure, and over 6500-members directionless.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.

Maratha agitation likely to escalate

Mumbai: The indefinite fast agitation of Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil is likely to escalate and appears to last longer, even as the Bombay High Court, on Monday, gave directions to confine the protestors only to Azad maidan.


“I won’t leave Mumbai. You still have time… (to take the decision). The whole Maharashtra is preparing to come to Mumbai. Implement the demands or else there won’t be place even to stand in Mumbai,” Jarange-Patil said while issuing a warning to the state government. He also named Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and said, “I’m a peculiar character. My community won’t leave me. They can doom any party for me and your one mistake; a childish play can lead the country to pay a heavy price.”


Jarange’s supporters, meanwhile, started preparations on Monday to erect a huge pendol at Azad maidan which would accommodate 5,000 people and would protect them from the rains. Several trucks carrying meals for about 75,000 people too reached Azad Maidan from Parbhani on Monday. This is to ensure that none of the supporters of Jarange-Patil have to sleep empty stomach in Mumbai, the organisers said.


At the meeting of the cabinet sub-committee with CM Fadnavis and DCMs Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar on Monday, it was decided that the final resolution needs to be around the implementation of Hyderabad Gazetteer since Jarange-Patil has been consistently raising that demand. “We shall discuss the basic draft prepared by us with the Advocate General of the state and finalize it,” Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil the head of the cabinet sub-committee said.


Vikhe-Patil also made it clear that various court decisions have made it impossible to grant Kunbi status to all Marathas.


Journalists protest

Journalists’ associations in Mumbai expressed displeasure and registered protest with the organisers of Maratha quota stir over unruly behavior of some of the activists who allegedly misbehaved with some of the women reporters covering the agitation. The Mumbai Press Club and the TV Journalists Association (TVJA) issued strong representations, calling the incidents “unacceptable” and demanding urgent corrective action. They urged Jarange Patil to immediately enforce discipline, accountability, and safety measures within his protest movement. They also warned that unless urgent action is taken, media organisations in Mumbai may be forced into a coordinated boycott of the coverage of Jarange Patil’s hunger strike.

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