Nominated members of statutory bodies cannot be unilaterally removed by the nominating authority without a directive from a higher authority, ensuring continuity in representation.

JUDGMENT

1. This writ petition had impugned a notice dated 23 June 2021 issued by the Delhi Medical Council¹ convening a meeting on 23 July 2021 of its members for discussion of various matters set out in the agenda including agenda No.4 which dealt with a proposed nomination of a new member to represent the DMC in the Medical Advisory Council² of the National Medical Commission³ .

2. The petitioner assails the aforesaid notice in the backdrop of him having been elected as the nominee of the DMC and in turn to represent it in the MAC in terms of the provisions made in Section 11(2)(e) of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019⁴ . The petitioner was elected as the nominee of the DMC in a meeting duly convened and held. The name of the petitioner as the nominee of the DMC was also duly notified by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in the Union Government on 11 October 2019. It was the assertion of the petitioner that since the aforesaid nomination had been made pursuant to a request made by the Union Government calling upon the DMC to communicate the name of its nominee, the DMC could not have unilaterally withdrawn that nomination. When the writ petition initially came to be entertained, an interim order was passed on 22 July 2021 which provided that in the interim while the DMC may hold the meeting fixed for 23 July 2021 in respect of all agendas including Item No.4, the decision taken in that meeting regarding that particular agenda would not be given effect to. It is that interim order which has continued during the pendency of the present writ petition. By an order of 21 October 2021, the sixth respondent came to be impleaded as a party in these proceedings. That respondent is stated to have been elected as the nominee of the DMC in the meeting held on 23 July 2021. Before proceeding to notice the rival submissions addressed it would be apposite to notice the following undisputed facts.

3. On 09 August 2019 the DMC is stated to have received a letter from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in the Union Government requesting it to furnish the name of one of its elected members to represent that State Medical Council as a member of the MAC as per the provisions of Section 11(2) of the Act. It was in furtherance of the aforesaid communication that the petitioner came to be elected as the nominee on 28 August 2019. The term of the erstwhile DMC on the expiry of the period of 5 years was to come to an end sometime in March 2020. Fresh elections were thereafter held and the petitioner as well as the sixth respondent came to be elected as members of the DMC. The reconstituted DMC was notified by the Health and Family Welfare Department of GNCTD on 08 October 2020. The newly constituted DMC in its meeting of 06 January 2021 is stated to have taken up for consideration the issue of nominating one of its elected members as its nominee in the MAC. The minutes of the meeting of the DMC of that date records that members had unanimously agreed that since the DMC had been reconstituted, the process of selecting a nominee for the MAC may be initiated. It is pursuant to the aforesaid decision taken by the DMC that the impugned notice appears to have been issued. It would be apposite to note that Section 4 of the Delhi Medical Council Act, 1997⁵ prescribes that a member thereof would hold office for a term of five years from the date of publication of the constituted DMC. Section 4(4) further provides that the term of office of an outgoing member shall be deemed to extend and expire on the day immed