KOLKATA, June 29, 2006
IANS
Kolkata, June 29 (IANS) US-based Indian origin scientist
Kunal Saha has complained to the chief justice against
the West Bengal advocate-general for arguing on behalf
of a doctor accused of causing his wife's death in
1998.
Saha, a noted Ohio-based AIDS researcher, has been
fighting a medical negligence case related to Anuradha's
death in May 1998 during a social visit to India.
In an impassioned letter to Supreme Court Chief Justice
Y.K. Sabharwal and Calcutta High Court Chief Justice
V.S. Sirpurkar, Saha has now written: "To my
utter disbelief, Balai Ray, the current 'advocate
general' of West Bengal, appeared and argued the case
today (Wednesday) on behalf of the accused doctor,
Sukumar Mukherjee.
"It is pertinent to mention that Ray had been
the principal defence attorney at the Calcutta High
Court during the long quashing hearing of a separate
'criminal' case against three doctors, including Mukherjee,
in 1999.
"Ray has also represented Mukherjee and other
doctors accused for my wife's death at different stages
but all prior to his appointment as the West Bengal
'advocate-general'.
"Since Ray's appointment as the 'advocate general',
his junior attorney Asim Ray has mostly represented
Sukumar Mukherjee. However, Asim Ray has also been
appointed as a judge in the Calcutta High Court earlier
this month," Saha wrote in the letter made available
to IANS.
"The 'advocate general' represents the 'State'
and performs the important function of defending the
rights of all citizens. Can a sitting 'advocate-general'
act as a defence attorney for an accused person in
the court of law even when another government agency
(West Bengal Medical Council or WBMC) is also involved
in the same case?" Saha asked.
"Would such a move by the 'advocate general'
not give the court and the other government agency
the appearance of innocence for the accused doctor?
As the very basic 'doctrine of bias', this (Supreme
Court) has held on numerous occasions that 'justice
must not only be done but must also appear to be done'."
A division bench of the Calcutta High Court Wednesday
heard an appeal by Saha on the dismissal of his two
earlier petitions against the WBMC.
But Saha wrote: "The pleadings before the division
bench by Balai Ray were even more disconcerting considering
the fact that he had previously represented the accused
doctor in the very same court."
He said the presence of the advocate general as a
"defence attorney" in the courtroom transgressed
all ethical boundaries and undermined the sanctity
of the legal parlance.
A representative of the advocate general's office
said without going through the contents of the letter
they would not be able to comment on the issue.
"We cannot comment immediately unless we see
the content of the letter. This is all we can say
now," the official told IANS.
In a separate but related appeal, Saha has also accused
WBMC president Ashok Chowdhury of bias.
Saha recently suffered a legal setback when his case
- said to be India's biggest medical negligence compensation
(Rs.770 million or $17 million) claim against five
Kolkata doctors, including Mukherjee, and AMRI Hospital
- was dismissed by the National Consumer Disputes
Redressal Commission (NCDRC) in New Delhi June 1.
Saha has vowed to appeal to the Supreme Court against
the NCDRC judgment after the Supreme Court opens July
3.
