HC reinstates AIIMS doc out on fellowship

New Delhi: A senior resident doctor of AIIMS, unceremoniously shunted out from the institute because he overstayed abroad for his fellowship studies at the request of his foreign supervisor, has been re-instated by Delhi High Court.

Slamming the premier institute for the shoddy way it treated its own doctor, Justice S N Aggarwal recently ordered that Aman Dua be taken back into the medical institute’s rolls and stayed its decision to terminate his services. ‘‘You must treat them fairly. They are doctors,’’ HC reminded the counsel appearing for AIIMS.

Dua, who went to Brisbane, Australia, for a fellowship on bone transplant was shocked when he was slapped with termination orders on his return, because his plea for extension of fellowship period for another 45 days was declined by his superiors. However, instead of intimating him immediately in Brisbane that his request was being turned down, the AIIMS administration chose to post a letter to Dua’s parental home in Ludhiana, which was empty as his parents were away. Interestingly, it was Dua’s supervisor in Brisbane who appreciated his work and asked him to stay back for another 45 days. ‘‘The action of the institute in sending a show cause notice to the petitioner at Ludhiana and at his old address in Delhi while being fully aware that he is in Australia is totally unreasonable, unfair and arbitrary,’’ Dua’s advocate argued before HC, pointing out it wasn’t the doctor who tried to prolong his stay, but his Australian supervisor who was reluctant to release him midway.

‘‘AIIMS was intimated by the Fellowship Supervisor that he can’t release Dua from his duties, requesting AIIMS to extend his duration of stay as Dua was making valuable contribution in clinical research,’’ Dua further clarified before HC through his lawyer, wondering why AIIMS didn’t communicate their decision immediately to him in Australia.
With the Thanks from the Time of India
Source:- The Times of India 16 Sep. 2008 P.7
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