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The Delhi High Court recently appointed Justice GS Sistani, former Judge of the Delhi High Court as observer for the conduct of elections for the post of Vice President of Dental Council of India.

The order was passed by the vacation bench led by Justice Amit Bansal on a plea by 4 members of the Dental Council of India.

On 9th November, 2020, the then President of the council, Dr. Dibyendu Mazumdar was removed by the Central Government after which Dr. Mazumdar challenged his removal by filing a petition before the High Court, in which judgment has been reserved by a Coordinate Bench on 31st May, 2021.

In terms of Clause 35 of the Regulations, the Vice President of the Council acts in place of the President in case the office of the President is vacant. However, in the present case, the erstwhile Vice President of the council (Dr. Bharat Shetty) also tendered his resignation from the post of Vice President as well as the membership of the council on 3rd May, 2021.

In light of the vacancy created in the posts of President as well as Vice President, Dr Ashok Khandelwal being a member of council, was appointed by the Central Government to discharge the functions of with immediate effect till elections take place for the said post.

The said order of the Central government was challenged. Thereafter the petition was heard by the Roster Bench on 18th May, 2021 and on which date, counsels for the respondents were asked to obtain instructions whether elections could be held for the post of Vice President of the council sometime in the near future.

The matter was adjourned to 27th May, 2021, on which date counsels for the respondents informed the Court that conducting elections would have to await a 40 days’ notice period as per the Regulations and therefore, cannot be conducted anytime soon, which was opposed by the petitioners. On 4th June, 2021, the Roster Bench recused from hearing the petition and in view of the fact that the application for interim relief had been adjourned on the last two occasions, the matter was placed before the Vacation Bench on 7th June, 2021 and the order was reserved.

The petitioners contented that the Government of India was not inclined to permit the conduct of elections for the post of Vice President and Dr Khandelwal should not have been appointed the President, even on a temporary basis as he is neither the senior most member, nor the most experienced/qualified member of the Council.

The Union Government on the other hand submitted that it had to issue the impugned Order dated 11th May, 2021 in view of the unprecedented situation, where the offices of both the President and the Vice President had fallen vacant and Dr. Khandelwal was appointed on a temporary basis, in public interest so that the council continues to function with an effective regulator and so as to ensure smooth functioning of the council, till the elections were conducted for the said post. It was further argued that the Union Government was empowered to issue the impugned Order as the council is directly under the superintendence and supervision of the Union government.

The Court however said that the question whether the Union Government was empowered to appoint Dr Khandelwal as President was to be decided in the final hearing. At this stage, the Court took  a prima facie view as to whether there is a necessity for appointing a member to perform the functions of the President as a temporary arrangement.  

The Court observed that “the doctrine of necessity has rightly been invoked by the respondent no.1 in the present scenario, where the respondent no.2 council was left in an unprecedented situation without a President and a Vice President.”

The bench further observed that though the election of the President is subjudice, there is no impediment in election of the Vice President and accordingly directed the Dental Council of India to forthwith hold elections for the post of Vice President, as per procedure prescribed in 

the Act and the Regulations and appointed Justice GS Sistani as observer to ensure that the process of election is carried out in a smooth manner.

 

CASE TITLE: Dr. Vivek Kumar and Ors vs Union of India and Ors