It was a homecoming for Dr P. Venugopal, and he couldn’t have hoped for a better one. Not only did the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) erupt in spontaneous celebration at the return of the cardiac surgeon as its director, but his detractors too kept a low profile, refusing to comment on the development.

Venugopal’s return was facilitated after the Supreme Court recently struck down the AIIMS Amendment Act 2007, supposedly passed to ease the 66-year-old surgeon out of the institute after a bitter row with Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss.

While Venugopal has been reticent in his reaction to the court verdict— “The (court) decision has thwarted the game plan carried out in Parliament”—the resident doctors and faculty members have been more vocal. “This is a victory for truth. Ramadoss is responsible for the entire fiasco and he should resign,” said Kaushal Kant Mishra, spokesperson for the Resident Doctors Association (RDA).

Last year, Ramadoss and Venugopal engaged in a public spat on a variety of issues, including the OBC quota stir. While Venugopal was accused of aiding the stir, the RDA lent its support to the director. The anti-quota protests had reduced in intensity after the recent Supreme Court verdict allowing 27 per cent reservations for OBCs in higher educational institutions, but the May 8 verdict to reinstall Venugopal had the medical fraternity cutting across caste lines to back him. For those who have sustained a muted support to quotas say that notwithstanding Venugopal’s return, the SC nod will work in their favour. “Whether the RDA and Dr Venugopal like it or not, the OBC quotas will see the light of the day. This is all we wanted,” said an MBBS student from the SC community.

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