New Delhi, November 29
There seems to be no end to the face off between AIIMS director P. Venugopal and health minister Ambumani Ramadoss as the noted surgeon today in a swift action moved the Supreme Court to challenge the new law curtailing the fixed five-year tenure of the directors of AIIMS and Chandigarh’s PGIMER.

The powerful doctors body, Faculty Association of AIIMS, also in a separate petition challenged the AIIMS and PGIMER Amendement Act, 2007 passed by the Rajya Sabha yesterday after the Lok Sabha had passed it last week.

Both the petitions were filed in the Supreme Court Registry amid hectic activities by the lawyers of Venugopal and the faculty association and the lawyers of AIIMS governing body, which virtually went on tracking their move.

There are chances of Venugopal’s lawyers mentioning the petitions before Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan tomorrow for its urgent hearing.

The amended Act provides that the tenure of the directors of two premier health institutions of the country would remain in their post either for five years or up to the 65 years of age, whichever is early.

The Act now awaits its placement before the President by the government for her assent and a subsequent notification to implement it. And from the action of Ramadoss, it looked imminent that the Act will be sent to the President soon.

The amended Act, which has an in built mechanism of its retrospective implementation, was assailed by Venugopal terming it as brought by the government with a “prejudice” against him in the backdrop of Ramadoss’ single-point agenda to oust him and he had sought the apex court’s direction to quash it.

In an interim measure, he has sought a direction to stay the Act till the petition is decided.

The faculty association has gone a step further seeking a direction to the government not to nominate any minister to the governing body of AIIMS and prohibit the Centre from implementing the amendment.

Both petitions pointed out that AIIMS and the PGIMER were created under the 1956 Act to function as autonomous health institutions and since then there had been no major problem.

Under the existing law the tenure of the directors of the two institution is fixed for five years, which Venugopal termed as a “permanent” tenure. The tenure of Venugopal ends in June 2008.

The directors of the two institutions could only be removed with a “valid justifiable reason”, he said.

In a bid to strengthen his case, the noted doctor cited two rulings of the apex court pertaining to the AIIMS director’s tenure in 1992 and 1996 holding it was a fixed tenure of five years. Similarly, he also cited the two orders of the Delhi High Court of July 7, 2006, and October 18, 2006, while staying Ramadoss-sponsored AIIMS governing body’s order sacking him.

New Delhi, November 29
The BJP-led opposition NDA today boycotted proceedings in the Rajya Sabha for the entire day in protest against the manner in which the Bill fixing the age of retirement of the director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) was introduced and then passed yesterday.

Immediately after the House met for the question hour, deputy leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha Sushma Swaraj said her party was boycotting the day's proceedings in the House in protest against the Bill passed yesterday, fixing the age of retirement of AIIMS director at 65.

The NDA decision came despite chairman Hamid Ansari’s assurance that the members could raise the matter after the question hour.

The passage of the Bill has paved the way for the removal of present AIIMS director P.Venugopal, who has been at loggerheads with health minister Ambumani Ramadoss over various issues.