Venugopal in New Delhi on Thursday. Picture by Ramakant Kushwaha

New Delhi, May 8: One part of AIIMS stiffened in apprehension and the other celebrated today as a court decision threatened to reopen wounds that had never completely healed at the country’s premier medical institution.

The Supreme Court today reinstated Dr P. Venugopal as All India Institute of Medical Sciences director, striking down as unconstitutional a new law used by the health ministry to sack the controversial cardiac surgeon.

Venugopal will, however, remain director only till July 3, when his tenure expires under the old law. He officially assumes charge tomorrow.

The decision left the ministry shocked, its officials unable till late this evening to think of a face-saver.

At the institute, students leading a nationwide anti-reservation campaign for the past two years celebrated. They loudly proclaimed the decision as “vindication” of their support for Venugopal, who had controversially allowed the use of the institute’s premises for their protests.

As afternoon turned to evening, tinsel shone outside some hostel buildings and a few students burst crackers to celebrate Venugopal’s reinstatement.

“This is great news for us. We have been proved right by the Supreme Court’s decision. The amendment to the AIIMS Act was illegal — we said that from the first day,” Kumar Harsh, president of the AIIMS Resident Doctors Association, said this evening.

But to many students from the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and the Other Backward Classes at the institute, today’s decision was “worrying to say the least”.

Two years ago, these students were threatened by “general category” students and asked to vacate certain hostel wings. After The Telegraph carried reports of alleged discrimination against SC/ST students at the institute, the Prime Minister had ordered an inquiry headed by University Grants Commission chairman Sukhdeo Thorat.

The Thorat committee found the allegations accurate and blamed the AIIMS administration under Venugopal for not taking action against the guilty.

“It is surprising that the judiciary is always so prompt to come of the defence of the elite whereas it is oblivious to numerous si milar cases that deal with the oppression of Dalits, backwards and the poor,” said Ajay Kumar Singh, a Scheduled Caste student at the institute.

Ajay, who had cleared his exams at the AIIMS comfortably during the initial years of his MBBS course, was declared failed in a crucial examination after he spoke to the Thorat committee.

The institute, without informing him, asked a cameraman to be present at a re-examination. Ajay says he blanked out in the shock of answering questions under surveillance.

The SC/ST students had several times complained to Venugopal about discrimination against them, but allege that the administration never seriously inquired into the charges.

The past six months have been relatively “peaceful”, a Scheduled Tribe student, who requested not to be named, said.

“Relations between the SC/ST students and the general category students were also improving. Now, the future appears uncertain again,” he said.

Harsh, however, dismissed concerns that reserved category students would be targeted now that Venugopal is set to come back. “These concerns are unfounded,” he said.

Health ministry officials said they were examining the SC order, but conceded that there was little the government could do to remove Venugopal at present.

“The only strategy appears to be to quietly sit out the two months left of his tenure,” an official said.