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...

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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.

Sharad Pawar puts up a fierce fight

Aditi Pai
Nov 15, 2024
2 min read

In a departure from his usual ways, Sharad Pawar came down heavily on those who betrayed him and split the NCP that he had founded, taking the fight into the BJP’s home.

Mumbai: As electioneering enters the final phase, Sharad Pawar’s public rebuke of those who betrayed him and split his party, comes as a surprise to many. In the past year and a half, the patriarch of the NCP (SP) has not publicly condemned his former colleagues too often. Neither is he known to use intemperate language against his opponents, particularly the BJP. Even when BJP leaders called him a ‘bhatakti atma’ just before the Lok Sabha polls, Pawar only had a humourous retort. But this time, the angry statesmen has taken the fight to the people, almost as if urging the people to choose the right from the wrong.

In Yeola, Pawar came down heavily on Chhagan Bhujbal, remaking that he had “crossed all limits” and had betrayed not just him but also Bal Thackeray earlier and exhorted the voters to shun such as person. Dilip Walse Patil, a former close colleague who shared warm relations with the Pawar family, wasn’t spared either. Pawar ruefully remarked that he, too, had betrayed him. The hurt was evident. But the burning desire to upstage these leaders at the ballot box was there for all to see.

A party leader explains that Pawar’s decision was to consolidate his gains in a few constituencies where the NCP (SP) enjoys a good base. And this is in the rural belt of Maharashtra. The seats secured by the NCP (SP) are crucial for the party which sees the sugar and milk belt of western Maharashtra as its bastion from the early days of Pawar’s political career. He’s balanced the caste equations well; bringing in candidates with high “winnability” and also rewarding those who are loyal, while keeping an eye on the caste combination. Sandeep Kshirsagar is a stellar example—the young OBC leader has been fielded from Beed which is seeing widespread Maratha agitation. He’s been a loyal to the party and is being groomed as the NCP (SP)’s OBC face with Bhujbal’s departure. “It makes it all the more important for Pawar to criticise and expose Bhujbal. It makes way for people to recognise others,” says the party worker.

Rural Maharashtra is where the party has set its sights. Even as the MVA formed the government in 2019, the undivided NCP bagged the maximum number and the most influential portfolios in the cabinet. The NCP had taken 12 cabinet positions with portfolios linked to rural politics such as water resources, cooperation and rural development, apart from the key home and finance departments.

There are two days of active campaigning left and Pawar has zipped across the state, combing through every other constituency of rural Maharashtra especially Marathwada and Western Maharashtra. At 84, he declared that he will grow old only once the government changes. The state has barely seen a fighter as fierce as him.

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