Patna: One of the 13 All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)-Patna doctors against whom the hospital administration recently issued a show-cause on the basis of the Centre's Vikas Arya committee report, has moved the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) seeking quashing of the show-cause order.

Head of the pathology and laboratory medicine department of AIIMS Patna, Dr Ajit Kumar Saxena, has also sought a stay on any coercive action against himself by the hospital administration till the matter is pending with the tribunal. The hospital administration suspects irregularities in the appointment of the 13 doctors who received the show-cause notice last past week.

At Saxena's first hearing on Tuesday, the tribunal sought a reply from the AIIMS-Patna administration as to why action was initiated against the doctors concerned so late when the Vikas Arya Committee submitted its report in 2014. The second hearing of the case is scheduled for April 6.

AIIMS-Patna advocate Binay Kumar Pandey confirmed the first hearing of the case took place on Tuesday. "The tribunal observed that, prima facie, the show-cause notice issued by AIIMS-Patna director Prabhat Kumar Singh is not according to Classification, Control and Appeal rules 1964. The CAT also observed that the enquiry was conducted in 2013 while the report was submitted in 2014. The tribunal sought to know why no show-cause notice was served to the petitioner after the Vikas Arya Committee report was submitted. The tribunal also observed that the inquiry against the petitioner was conducted behind his back. At that point of time also, no show-cause was served and no explanation sought," AIIMS-Patna advocate Binay Kumar Pandey said.

"The tribunal sought to know why all of a sudden action has been taken against the petitioner in 2018. The tribunal also asked why the show-cause notice by the AIIMS-petitioner not be quashed on these grounds."

The tribunal has granted the AIIMS-Patna administration two weeks time to file a reply in this matter, Pandey said.

Saxena earlier feigned ignorance when The Telegraph contacted him over the CAT hearing. Repeated attempt to contact AIIMS-Patna director Prabhat Kumar Singh proved futile.

Worth mentioning here is that the Vikas Arya committee constituted by the Union ministry of health and family welfare had questioned appointment of 19 of the 57 faculty members appointed at AIIMS-Patna in 2012.

Acting on the Vikas Arya committee report, the AIIMS-Patna administration on March 14 and 15 issued a show-cause to 13 doctors, including Dr. Anil Kumar (general surgery department- trauma and emergency wing), Dr. Ravi Kirti (medicine), Dr. Meenakshi Tewari (pathology and laboratory medicine), Dr. Ayan Banerjee (biochemistry), Dr. Nishant Sahay (anaesthesiology), Dr. Kamlesh Jha (physiology), Dr. Veena Kumari Singh (plastic surgery). The committee had questioned appointment of these doctors over lack of requisite qualification, age, degree and experience.

According to AIIMS sources, some other doctors of the premiere health hub, who have received show-cause notice from the hospital, are also seeking legal opinion in the matter. "The faculty appointments were approved by the governing body of the institute, which was chaired by then Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. So, if faculty members have been issued show-cause notices over the alleged irregularities in their appointment, why is the governing body not been involved in this, which is the part of union ministry," asked one of the faculty members who had been served show-cause notice. He spoke on the condition of anonymity. He said he would raise this point in his reply to the show cause.