THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Thiruvananthapuram district court has served a notice on the chairman and director of the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) for the alleged violation of norms in the appointment of the appellate authority of the institute’s ethical committee.
Admitting a petition in this regard, the court ordered the chairman and director of the institute to appear before it on May 25.
The petitioner Muraleedharan alleged the appointment of the director as the appellate authority of the Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) of the SCTIMST was in violation of the existing rules and a misuse of official powers. As per the guidelines issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on which the Standard Operating Procedures for IEC are framed, there is no provision for any such appellate authority over and above the chairman of IEC, the petitioner said.
Last month, the Express had reported the head of the institute was made the appellate authority of the IEC by an order dated April 12, 2017 violating the existing norms. Apart from this, Justice P S Gopinathan was removed from the post of the chairman of the IEC without following the procedures.
The petitioner said the appointment of the director as the appellate authority was inappropriate as the director was actively involved in all research activities, including several funded projects and drug trials. There could be bias as the director would always stand by the institute and its staff in case of ethical dispute even if the truth is contrary to the fact.
The petitioner alleged Justice Gopinathan was removed as he was not willing to favour the wrong intentions of the director in certain IEC related matters.