Medical Council of India vigilance officer complains of harassment

Says MCI president is victimising him, seeks repatriation to parent cadre

In a fresh controversy regarding the Medical Council of India, the Chief Vigilance Officer of the MCI, H.K. Jethi has written to the Central Vigilance Commission complaining of “victimisation and harassment” by the MCI administration. Mr Jethi has sought repatriation to his parent cadre, the Indian Ordnance Factories Service (IOFS).

The incident comes close on the heels of the contentious removal of whistleblower Sanjeev Chaturvedi from the position of CVO, AIIMS.

The CVC, acting on Mr. Jethi’s complaint, has asked the Union Health Ministry to provide protection to the official and submit a report on the issue. The CVC has also asked the Ministry to even approach the Delhi police if the need arises. However, the Ministry has already forwarded Mr. Jethi’s application for repatriation to the Department of Personnel and Training.

In April 2014, Mr. Jethi had written a letter to the Secretary, Ministry of Health, complaining of victimisation for taking up a “drive against corruption.” Seeking repatriation to the IOFS, he had written, “I have already expressed apprehension that I may be a victim of statutory and physical harassment...in retaliation to my drive against corruption undertaken by the vigilance section in the MCI. The situation has not improved, instead [it is] getting worse and the president of MCI is using all pressure tactics for destabilising the functioning of vigilance division.”

Mr. Jethi was appointed as CVO in October 2013. In July 2014, the then joint secretary in the Ministry, Dr. Vishwas Mehta, had written to S Javed Ahmed, Joint director, Central Bureau of Investigation, complaining that the CVO had submitted that he was being harassed and not getting cooperation from the MCI administration.

The letter has details about the MCI president forcing Mr. Jethi to issue a letter to the CBI with contents that he had not agreed to, and when he expressed his inability to do so, he was “harassed”. Dr. Mehta also referred to the MCI inaction against irregular appointments made in the MCI on the basis of fake documents and other irregularities pointed out by the CVO.

Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan, who had spoken about complaints of corruption in the MCI and promised to take action, was unreachable for his reaction, while Dr. Jaishree Mehta, MCI president, did not respond to calls from The Hindu .