State changes returning officer after SC stay, paves way for MMC polls today | Mumbai news

MUMBAI: Hours after the Supreme Court stayed the election to the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) on grounds that the state government had not appointed an officer of under secretary rank as returning officer, the government appointed an officer of requisite rank to the post, paving the way for the poll to go ahead as scheduled on Thursday. But one of the petitioners raised concerns about the appointment of a new officer at the last moment, saying it could go against the spirit of the court’s order.

“Following the Supreme Court order, we have appointed Sunil Dhonde, under secretary with the medical education department, as returning officer. Polling will be held as planned on Thursday, April 3,” a senior officer from the medical education department told Hindustan Times. Counting of votes will be undertaken only after the next hearing in the apex court on April 7, the officer said.

But Dr Sudhir Naik – former president and medico-legal chairperson of the Association of Medical Consultants, Mumbai who had petitioned the high court over the same issue – believes the appointment should have triggered a fresh start to the election cycle.

“Once the earlier appointment is set aside, all actions taken – including the electoral roll preparation and scrutiny – lose legal validity,” he told HT. “Holding elections without restarting the process could go against the spirit of the Court’s order.”

Earlier in the day, a bench of justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Prashant Kumar Mishra had stayed the election on grounds that the state had contravened rule six of the MMC Rules, 2022, which stipulate that an officer not below the rank of under secretary must be appointed as returning officer.

The state government had conceded before the apex court that though the returning officer, Shilpa Parab, registrar of the Maharashtra Dental Council, drew same pay scale as that of an under secretary, no specific equivalence had been granted to the post.

The apex court’s order was in response to a special leave petition filed by Dr Sachin Pawar, a member of the MMC, who questioned the appointment of Parab as returning officer and the deletion of around 70,000 doctors’ names from the voters’ list.

As polls for the MMC were last held in 2016 and have been due since August 2022, they could be conducted forthwith once the state government appointed a returning officer of requisite rank, the bench had clarified while staying the election.

The medical council is comprised of 18 members, of which nine are elected from among registered medical practitioners while the remaining nine members are nominated by the state government and educational institutions.

Dr Pawar had approached the apex court after his plea was dismissed by the Bombay high court on March 20. His counsel in the high court, advocate VM Thorat, had argued that Parab’s appointment as returning officer was contrary to rule 6 of the MMC Rules, 2002. Her appointment would also bring about a conflict of interest as she had earlier worked as in-charge registrar of the MMC and had delayed the election process, the lawyer had argued.

The high court had, however, dismissed the petition after accepting arguments advanced on behalf of the state government. The government had claimed that Parab was no longer associated with the MMC and her appointment as in-charge registrar was made on the same day when she was appointed as returning officer for the MMC polls and the latter was subsequently withdrawn. Parab was also not concerned with the preparation of the voters’ list for the election, the government had said.