India News | SC Orders Removal of Chairperson of National Commission for Homoeopathy
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Months before his superannuation, the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the removal of the chairperson of the National Commission for Homoeopathy saying his appointment was illegal.
New Delhi, Feb 12 (PTI) Months before his superannuation, the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the removal of the chairperson of the National Commission for Homoeopathy saying his appointment was illegal.
Setting aside a Karnataka High Court order, a bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Manmohan said there was total lack of procedural fairness in the case.
"The appointment of the third respondent stands quashed. The third respondent shall step down from the office of chairperson of the commission forthwith. By forthwith, we mean a week from date to enable him complete his pending assignments without, however, taking any policy decision or decision involving finances," it held.
Referring to Section 4 of National Commission for Homeopathy (NCH) Act, 2020, the top court said the provision prescribes the candidate to have a minimum of 20 years experience, of which they should be a "leader" in the field of homeopathy.
The court said the "mandatory" eligibility requirements couldn't be waived off by the administration.
The case, said the bench, showcased an "egregious departure" from the mandatory requirements prescribed under Section 4 of the NCH Act and the advertisement for the position and left it no option but to interfere with the selection of the chairperson.
"Fresh process be initiated for appointment to the office of chairperson of the commission expeditiously. We hope and trust that the selection process will be taken to its logical conclusion, in accordance with law," it said further.
The top court said no future benefit should enure to Dr Anil Khurana on the basis of the service rendered by him as chairperson.
The apex court said in the matter of essential qualifications prescribed by the statute, there should neither be any deviation from the statutory requirements nor the advertisement inviting applications while conducting any selection process, unless there was a power to relax the qualifications.
"The act of appointing the third respondent as chairperson despite he not having the requisite experience suffers from malice in law...We hasten to add that whenever appointment to a public office is sought to be made, irrespective of the nature of the office, the rules prescribing mandatory eligibility criteria must be applied in a strict manner; after all, every public appointment under Article 16 of the Constitution must be fair, non-arbitrary and reasonable. Tested on this touchstone, the appointment of the third respondent fails to pass muster," it added.
The judgement came on a plea filed by Dr Amaragouda L Patil challenging an order of the high court which upheld the appointment of Dr Khurana.
Khurana was due to demit office on July 4, 2025.
Patil, who was an applicant for the post, challenged the appointments on grounds that Khurana lacked the requisite experience of working for 10 years as a "leader" in terms of the explanation to Section 4 of the NCH Act and, therefore, wasn't eligible for consideration.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)