MUMBAI: Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari did not use any of his special powers to revoke the suspension of former Ahmednagar district civil surgeon Dr Sunil Pokharna, the Raj Bhavan clarified on Thursday and termed media reports in this regard as baseless.
The Raj Bhavan said in a statement that the decision regarding revoking Pokharna's suspension and appointing him to some other post after cancellation of the earlier administrative action was taken at the Maharashtra government's level.
The Raj Bhavan's clarification came in the wake of some media reports claiming that the Governor cancelled the suspension of Pokharna using his special powers. The statement termed the news reports as "baseless and imaginary".
The then Ahmednagar district civil surgeon Pokharna was suspended by the Maharashtra government in November last year following the death of 11 COVID-19 patients in a blaze at the ICU of the district hospital.
The Raj Bhavan said Pokharna had appealed against the suspension before the Governor on January 25 this year under the Maharashtra Civil Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1979.
Koshyari held a hearing in this regard at the Raj Bhavan on Wednesday (March 16), during which the state government said Pokharna's suspension was cancelled on Tuesday itself and that he was posted as the medical superintendent at the rural hospital in Pune district's Shirur taluka, it said.
"Hence, the news reports that Dr Pokharna's suspension was cancelled or he was re-posted following the Governor's orders are wrong," the statement said.