NEW DELHI, Sept 15:
The Health Ministry has asked AIIMS to go ahead with filling 148 posts of super speciality faculty as per the current quota policy even as the government’s review petition is pending in the Supreme Court which had disfavoured reservation for such posts.
Responding to a query by the AIIMS, the Ministry has said such appointments would be subject to the outcome of the review petition.
“The Institute may go ahead with the selection process in respect of advertised 148 posts of assistant professors and lecturer in Nursing which will be subject to the outcome of the review petition filed by the Ministry in the SC,” a letter from the Ministry to AIIMS Director said.
It noted that the Ministry has filed a review petition before the Supreme Court seeking review of the order of the apex court passed on July 18.
The Supreme Court had ruled that there can be no reservation in appointment for faculty posts in speciality and super speciality courses in medical colleges, including AIIMS.
A five-judge constitutional bench headed by the then Chief Justice Altamas Kabir said it cannot take a contrary view expressed in 1992 by a nine-judge bench in the Indra Sawhney case, also known as the Mandal case, that there could be no compromise with merit at the super speciality stage.
The government had filed a review petition on August 14 and an urgency application before the apex court three days later.
In the wake of the judgement, several political parties had demanded in Parliament that the government should urgently bring a Constitution Amendment Bill to overrule the court order. The government had promised to do so but could not.
Subsequently, Law Minister Kapil Sibal said in the Lok Sabha that the “current policy is valid today and it will remain valid tomorrow also.”
He said, “If the apex court gives an unfavourable verdict (on the review petition), we will consult the Attorney General and issue a GO (government order) to ensure that the policy remains in place in future too.”
Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is also President of the AIIMS Governing Body, had said the apex court verdict would not affect the promotion of doctors to the posts of Professors and Assistant Professors. (PTI)
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