The controversy over Dr Pathak's age arose following a complaint that she should have retired on May 1999, on completion of 58 years. The Director of Medical Education (DMER) has now written to the Madhya Pradesh Medical Council, where she had initially registered, for clarifications.

While Dr Pathak, also Head of the Department of Cardiology at the JJ group, claims she was born in 1944 (which would make her 55 years old today), complaints have been submitted that she was in fact born in 1941. Going by that, the doctor should have retired in May 1999.

Besides, information submitted by Dr Pathak herself when she joined JJ as an honorary assistant professor of cardiology in October 1977, contains certain vital discrepancies. Herdate of birth in the documents is stated as May 7, 1944. Her age of matriculation has been mentioned as 16 years. Where she specifies her educational qualifications, she states that she had completed her Inter-Science in 1959. She also states that she had joined the MBBS course at the Jabalpur Medical college in 1959.

Going by her year of birth, Dr Pathak would have been only 15 when she joined the MBBS course! But, according to the other set of documents she submitted, she completed her matriculation at 16. Could she have signed up for the MBBS course before completing her matriculation?

The question was first raised by K A Awan, a social worker, who wrote to the dean, Grant Medical College (GMC) and JJ Group of Hospitals, stating that Dr Pathak should have retired on May 6, 1999, at the age of 58. In his letter, dated May 24, Awan has submitted that Dr Pathak's actual date of birth is May 7, 1941. Expressing surprise that she had mentioned it as May 7, 1944, he points to the discrepancies.

``She hasmentioned that she passed her matriculation at the age of 16 years, and joined the medical college in 1959, ie, two years after matriculation. This means she was 18 years old in 1959, and with this, her date of birth should have been May 7, 1941, and not 1944...'' his letter states. He has therefore urged that appropriate action be taken against her ``for providing wrong information to your office'' and that she should be told to retire immediately.

Following Awan's complaint, the GMC dean wrote to the DMER, who in turn wrote to the registrar of the Madhya Pradesh Medical Council (MPMC) on June 1, 1999, asking the latter to confirm whether Dr Pathak's date of birth is May 7, 1941 in their own records. ``This information is immediately required in connection with the superannuation of Dr Pathak. If this date of birth, ie, 7.5.1941, is recorded in your register, this office would be able to take a decision promptly to retire Dr Pathak on superannuation on 31.5.1999,'' the DMER's letter states.

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that she did not want to comment. The DMER, Dr V L Deshpande, said the matter is now with the government and being handled by the Medical Education and Drugs Department. He refused to divulge anything. Secretary with the department, Thomas Benjamin, also said he did not want to comment.

This is not the first time Dr Pathak, who was also the late President, Dr Giani Zail Singh's physician, has courted controversy. Her appointment as Head of the Department (HoD) of Cardiology in 1991, had raised a ruckus, as the post is reserved exclusively for full-timers. Despite being an honorary professor, she was elevated as HoD, provoking allegations of favouritism. Her tenure as chairperson of the Shirdi Sai Baba Sansthan in the early nineties was also marked by allegations of financial irregularities.