All the President's men- A Fairy Tale

It is almost exactly 5 years since the Madras High Court ruled that the then President of DCI, Dr Anil Kohli's membership in DCI from Delhi was illegal. The then President of DCI resigned after his illegal membership in DCI was exposed through a Writ Petition filed by me. History now repeats itself. Dr Mazumdhar's nomination from a little known University in Jharkhand called Nilamber Pitamber University appears to be faulty just as the membership of 21 other members of the DCI ( for various other reasons). Here is the reason why Dr Mazumdhar is likely to be an illegal member.

1. To become member of the DCI under section 3(d) i.e Representative from University, one must be elected from amongst the Faculty of Dentistry of the University ( not teaching faculty).

2. While the Nilamber Pitamber University has an affiliated private dental college called Vananchal Dental College, it has no Faculty of Dentistry in the University. So the Nilamber Pitamber University cannot elect a member to DCI u/s 3(d).

3. Dr Mazumdar was made a honorary teaching faculty of Vananchal Dental College which is a private Dental College, in 2013 ( and it was kept a secret) despite he being a government servant of the Government of West Bengal. Either due to ignorance or by design the Nilamber Pitamber University has thought that being a member of the teaching staff of an affiliate dental college is the same as being a member of faculty of dentistry of a University. The two are quite different.

4. On May 31st 2015 Dr Mazumdhar who lost his membership to DCI from West Bengal ended up losing his Presidency of the DCI too, as they are co- terminus. He again stood for the post of president on June 11 th 2015 by claiming membership from Nilamber Pitamber University. He suddenly revealed his Hon. Professorship to claim membership under 3 (d). Based on this illegal membership he was elected by DCI members without opposition ( no one was allowed to oppose).

5. The question now is whether we have an illegal president Dr Mazumdhar and 21 members including the famous Ketan Desai in our statutory body. Dr Ketan Desai in fact found it convenient to enter DCI after being disallowed in the MCI. The reason why Dr Mazumdhar's Presidency is illegal is very simple. The Dentist Act does not allow membership from amongst faculty members of a private dental college ( which Dr Mazumdhar claims he is by honorary appointment). It only allows a person who is a member of a duly constituted faculty of Dentistry of a University who should thereafter be elected by a senate of the University. Nilamber Pitamber University by its own RTI admission does not have such a faculty with a fixed tenure and the election by senate was a farce. The member of an affiliated college's teaching faculty CANNOT be a legal member of DCI and therefore Dr Mazumdhar CANNOT  be president of DCI.

His membership and election as President will hopefully be challenged.