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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.

The angry Sainiks

angry Sainiks

When Eknath Shinde split the Shiv Sena in 2022, Ramdas Kadam was one of the most vocal leaders who went with him and even accused Uddhav Thackeray of not valuing the old-timers in the party. In a letter to Thackeray, he had written that while Bal Thackeray had appreciated his work and appointed him as a leader of the party, Uddhav did not follow the same norm and senior party leaders were never taken into confidence. He had even alleged that he and his son Yogesh, an MLA from Dapoli, had been “insulted several times” in the party. Ramdas Kadam is a typical Shiv Sainik, rough and fiery, always gunning for a fight.


He rose within the party in the eighties and nineties when the Shiv Sena was making its mark as a party for the ‘Marathi manoos’, fighting for the rights of the locals. Kadam began his career from Kandivali, a Mumbai suburb, and rose within the party ranks to become a shakha pramukh. In 1990, he was selected to contest the assembly elections from Khed, in Ratnagiri district from where he won. During the Shiv Sena-BJP government’s tenure from 1995 to 1999, Kadam was made minister of state for home and food and civil supplies, underlining his importance within the party. He won the elections for three subsequent terms until 2004. When Narayan Rane, a senior leader from Konkan, quit the Shiv Sena in 2005, Kadam was appointed leader of the opposition in the state legislative assembly during which he played a key role in keeping a check on the government. In 2009, he was defeated by Bhaskar Jadhav but was elected to the legislative council, ensuring his continuity in the legislature. In 2014, when the BJP-Shiv Sena formed the government, Kadam was appointed as the minister for environment and one of the biggest policy decisions he made was to implement a ban on plastic. The ban was subsequently watered down. In 2019, he bowed out of the electoral race, instead, ensuring a nomination from his son Yogesh who successfully contested from Dapoli.


His other son Siddhesh was appointed as the chairman of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board in March this year, sparking allegations of favouritism to pacify Kadam who is apparently miffed with his party. While the position mandates a senior professional with more than two decades of experience, Siddhesh, although a post graduate in Science, was not seen to be eligible for the high position. Yogesh is contesting the state assembly poll from Dapoli for a second term.

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