KK Singh shown the door

LUCKNOW: An emergency meeting of the executive council (EC) of the Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University (CSMMU) decided to terminate the services of Dr KK Singh on Saturday. The EC accepted by majority votes the findings of the Justice (retired) Shailendra Saksena which found Singh guilty of misconduct.
The meeting was called on the directions of the high court which had instructed the university to decide the case within a stipulated time.The Raj Bhawan was also keenly watching the developments in the university. Police personnel and PAC jawans were deployed on the campus as a precautionary measure before the meeting.
Assistant professor in the department of general surgery, Singh was under suspension since January 2006 on charges of negligence of duty, tarnishing the image of the university by making false complaints, involvement in arson on the campus on January 11/12, 2006, and misrepresentation of facts at the time of his appointment.
The inquiry committee formed by the university to investigate the case found Singh guilty of three of four charges levelled against him. The charge of negligence of duty could not be proved because university failed to produce documentary evidence. Singh, in his reply, had challenged the constitution of Justice Saksena committee and denied all allegations against him.
After a thorough discussion, the case was put for secret ballot during the Saturday's meeting. A couple of members raised objections that the agenda circulated by the university did not contain the details of the case. They also felt that Singh should be given another chance to put his defence. But a majority view was that Singh had already been given enough opportunity to defend himself.
Significantly, in the arson case Singh was acquitted by a court last year. But Justice Saksena has observed in his report that Singh was acquitted in the criminal case because prosecution's witness did not appear in the court, "but acquittal in a criminal case will have no impact on the disciplinary proceedings because they are being conducted in different fields."
An inquiry conducted by the medical education department of the state government on Singh's representation had earlier found him innocent. But the report was rejected by the university as its own inquiry had found him guilty. Singh is also an accused in the All India Post-graduate Medical Entrance Examination (AIPGMEE)-2002 paper leak.