The high court on Wednesday dissolved the committee of the West Bengal Medical Council as it has completed its five-year tenure and elections are overdue.
Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharya issued an order dissolving the committee and asked the state government to take steps to hold elections so a new committee can take charge on November 1.
The tenure of the committee that the high court dissolved had ended in July 2018.
The order followed a petition by Kunal Saha, president of the People for Better Treatment, an association of victims of medical negligence.
Saha had submitted that the term of the committee, led by chairman Nirmal Maji, had lapsed but it was still enjoying power.
Maji, a doctor, is also a Trinamul Congress MLA.
“I am very happy with the order,” Saha said on Wednesday.
“The court has also said the committee headed by Maji has to leave office by July 31. Till then the committee can only run the daily affairs. It cannot investigate any complaint against any doctor,” Saha said.
“The state government has been asked to form an ad hoc committee that will start functioning on August 1. This committee has to hold elections and declare results by October 31 so that a new committee can take over on November 1,” said Saha.
The state medical council issues registration certificates to all doctors graduating from medical colleges in Bengal. A doctor cannot examine patients till he or she has been issued a registration number by the council.
Doctors who have graduated from medical colleges in other states but want to practise in Bengal also need to obtain a registration number from the state medical council, said a doctor.
Maji said he welcomed the order. “This order is on expected lines. We started the election process in 2018 but some opposition groups went to court and got the elections stayed. We want the elections to be held and we will win,” Maji said.