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 Beramji was installed as Administrator, the remaining members of the council were effectively superseded, leaving the regulatory body without its mandated collective structure, and over 6500-members directionless.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

NEET aspirant from Delhi found dead in Kota refused to sit for May 4 exam, wanted 1 more year

  • PTI
  • Apr 26, 2025
  • 2 min read


KOTA: Ranjit Sharma, a carpenter in Delhi's Tuglakabad, sobbed uncontrollably outside the mortuary of a hospital here as he waited to claim his son's body. The man and his wife had been in the city just a few days ago to take his NEET-aspirant son back home, but he had refused.


According to the parents, Roshan Sharma (23) had abruptly told them just a few weeks before the May 4 NEET-UG exam that he would not appear for it this year.


Just three days after they had left for Delhi, the body of their son was retrieved from the bushes near a railway track here early on Thursday with a preliminary police probe indicating that he had consumed a poisonous substance.


In between sobs, Ranjit Sharma said his son had been preparing for NEET for the past three years and had recently confided with his sister that he needed another year to get fully ready for the prestigious medical entrance exam.


"Our son was studious, scoring 550-600 marks in routine tests at the coaching institute," he claimed on Friday, struggling to wrap around his head the reason for the suicide just days before the exam. The perfect score for the NEET-UG exam is 720.


This is the 12th case of suspected student suicide since January in the city, considered the country's hub for competitive exam coaching. Last year, the city reported 17 suicides by aspirants.


According to Roshan's parents, he had himself decided to join a coaching institute in Kota and jumped to another institute in the city just after a year.


Ranjit Sharma told that they came to Kota on April 22 to take their son back to home, but he refused. When their son couldn't be found in his hostel they contacted him over phone, only to be told that neither would he sit for the NEET exam this year nor return home.


They returned home with his belongings, hoping he would follow them. When that didn't happen, the distraught parents kept calling their son, urging him to return home. Roshan had also shared with his sister over the phone that he wanted a year more to prepare for NEET, he added.


The police handed over Roshan's body to the family after post-mortem on Friday and lodged a case under section BNSS Section 194 (A) (enquiry on suicide) for investigation, Circle Inspector at Kunhadi police station Arvind Bhardwaj said.


The parents have not levelled any allegation, he added.


This was the second case of suspected suicide reported within 48 hours in the coaching city which has been under critical lens for the past few years for high rates of suicides among competitive exam aspirants, often attributed to them not coping well with the pressure of studies and high expectations from their families.


On April 22, an 18-year-old NEET aspirant from Bihar allegedly hanged himself to death in his hostel room. In a note, the student said neither his family nor his preparation for NEET-UG was the reason behind his extreme step, police had said.

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