The reasons behind inviting a private doctor to conduct cardiac surgery on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at AIIMS which has the facilities and expertise to do it should be disclosed under RTI, the CIC has directed.

An RTI applicant, Jagdish Chander Jetli, sought details about the rules and reasons of AIIMS under which Dr Ramakant Panda and his team from Asian Heart Institute, Mumbai was asked to carry out the surgery at the Institute. Singh, 76, underwent a re-do coronary artery bypass surgery at AIIMS on January 24 this year. Jetli claimed that the response by AIIMS to his application was "vague and evasive" prompting him to move an appeal in the Central Information Commission.

After hearing the arguments of both sides, Information Commissioner Annapurna Dixit held,"...how the decision to invite Dr Panda to conduct surgery was arrived at and for what reasons and also (the appellant should) be provided with minutes of any meeting in this connection, available with AIIMS by June 20."

Jetli argued before CIC that AIIMS had acknowledged having expertise in the surgery that was conducted on the PM with the success rate comparable with international standards. AIIMS contended there was no specific rule which mentions explicitly about hiring a private doctor. It said the Institute Director was competent to take any administrative decision in the interest of patient care. It also said the Institute does not have anything on record about the expertise of Dr Panda.

Jetli alleged it was "inconceivable" that the Institute allowed Dr Panda to operate on the Prime Minister without ascertaining his expertise. After hearing the arguments, Dixit said the appellant wanted to know why a premier Institute like AIIMS, which is staffed by the best doctors of the country and with the best medical facilities, had to invite an "outside" doctor to conduct the operation.

... contd.