Noting that a medical officer has to be the epitome of trust, the Delhi High Court refused to grant any relief to a medico who was expelled from the Army College of Medical Sciences on charges of forging signatures and stamps for receiving a scholarship amount under the EWS scholarship scheme.
Not first offence
The medico had been rusticated before for posing as a doctor, although he was still a student. It was during rustication that he committed forgery. Upon hearing his petition for leniency, Justice V.Kameshwar Rao concluded, “The offence, for which he was expelled, is not the first one. The earlier one of impersonation was an equally serious one. Regrettably, despite rustication, he did not mend his conduct. He indulged in a further more serious offence of forging the signature/stamps of an officer for monetary gain. This offence/ misconduct committed by the petitioner has to be looked not only from his perspective but from a larger perspective of the society which he would serve if he is allowed to go scot-free”.
Epitome of trust
“The plea that the petitioner cannot pursue any other career does not appeal to this Court. Had the charge been a different one and not as serious as the one committed by the petitioner, possibly the Court could have taken a lenient and pragmatic view so as not to damage the career of a person,” Justice Rao said.
“A medical officer has to be an epitome of trust, humility and sacrifice, always placing others before self. He has to demonstrate abilities to win over the confidence of those whom he serves.
“As Mr... has repeatedly indulged in malpractices even before completing the initial phase of training in MBBS, it will not be prudent to take him back after expulsion purely on moral grounds. Given his background, it is fairly certain that he cannot be groomed into an ethical medical officer. Any leniency at this stage may be dangerous to the society at large in the future,” said the Bench while quoting the observations made by the DGMS, while rejecting the medico's request for reconsideration of the order of expulsion.
Strict action by college
In the instant case, the petitioner was granted admission in the Army College of Medical Sciences on August 25, 2008 which is affiliated to the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University.
During academic year 2010-2011, he submitted an application for claiming scholarship under EWS Scheme for ₹ 55,000 from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University. The application was verified and forwarded with recommendations of Dean on July 26, 2010.
When the forgery was noticed, the varsity on May 1, 2012 requested the Army college to initiate a strict action against the petitioner and also to recover the amount from him.
Rustication
The Court was also informed that during the year 2011-12, the petitioner was rusticated from the College from August 10, 2011 to February 9, 2012 for posing as a doctor and practising medicine at the medical camp organised by him, where he stated himself to be Dr. P.K. Singh although he was yet to receive the necessary degree.
While the rustication was in force on November 11, 2011, he committed the forgery for scholarship. While the petitioner urged before the court that the punishment is unconscionable, totally annihilating his academic life as a doctor and bringing to an end the dream of a marginal family to see its child in the robes of a doctor, the Army college said a person who could not mend his conduct having been rusticated earlier, is not entitled to any sympathy.
