CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Thursday quashed a Tamil Nadu government's order placing noted oncologist Dr Subbiah Shanmugam serving with the Health Department under suspension for his alleged connections to BJP's student wing ABVP.
Justice D Krishna Kumar pronounced the verdict on a petition filed by Dr Subbiah setting aside the order of Tamil Nadu Health department which suspended him for violating service rules of government servants.
The judge directed the government to hold the disciplinary proceedings against him in twelve weeks.
Dr Subbiah, serving as Head of Department of Oncology, Kilpauk Medical College, was suspended initially by the Director of Medical Education (DME) and later the Health Secretary issued an order ratifying the action for service rules violation.
He faced the action for meeting the cadre of ABVP who were imprisoned for staging protest near official residence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin at Chittaranjan Salai in Alwarpet by breaching the security ring.
Challenging the action, he filed the petition in the High Court. His counsel contended that he held the post of president of ABVP between 2017 and 2020, and it was not a political outfit.
However, Advocate General R Shunmugasundaram stated that ABVP is a political outfit and Subbiah had posted political comments on his social media network handle on the death of Thanjavur student Lavanya. And this had necessitated the action.
Subbiah was recently arrested by Chennai city police in connection with a case of urinating in front of a neighbouring house. However, he was released on bail within two days after Justice G Jayachandran granted him the relief. The judge also flayed the police for arresting him on a holiday.