Top court allows ban on smoking

The nationwide ban on smoking in all public places from October 2 will go ahead, with the Supreme Court on Monday refusing to stay the Centre’s notification in this regard.

A bench headed by Justice B.N. Agarwal, refusing to stay the May 30, 2008 notification, also transferred four petitions, including one each filed by ITC and Indian Hotels Association, against it in the Delhi high court.

“We are of the view that it is not a fit case for grant of interim relief. The prayer staying implementation of prohibition of smoking in public places is rejected... Let transfer cases be heard on November 18,” the bench said.

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Big blow to Ramadoss, All India Institute of Medical Sciences law held invalid

Dr P.Venugopal returned to the helm of the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences here on Thursday after the Supreme Court struck down an amendment brought into the AIIMS Act by the Centre fixing the upper age of retirement of the director of the institute at 65 years.

Dr Venugopal had been unceremoniously ousted from the post of AIIMS director in November last year, hours after President Pratibha Patil had signed the controversial AIIMS amendment bill. The All India Institute of Medical Sciences and the PostGraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (Amendment) Bill 2007 had been introduced by Union health and family welfare minister Anbumani Ramadoss in Parliament in August 2007 after the turf war between the health minister and the AIIMS chief sunk to a new low over the autonomy of the institute. The bill was passed in Parliament amid stiff opposition from the BJP and the AIADMK.

The Supreme Court verdict has proved a major setback for the Centre and for Dr Ramadoss in particular, with several top Opposition leaders demanding that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh immediately dismiss the health minister. "I demand the resignation of Ramadoss, and if he is not resigning I want the Prime Minister to dismiss him forthwith," BJP leader Sushma Swaraj told reporters.

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