CAT stays AIIMS forensic medicine department head's appointment

The CAT Wednesday extended its stay on the appointment of the new head for the AIIMS forensic medicine department in the wake of the controversy over Sunanda Pushkar's autopsy report.

Pushkar, wife of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, was found dead in her room at a five-star hotel in Delhi Jan 17.

A bench of members Ashok Kumar and Raj Vir Sharma stayed the appointment till further hearing and fixed the matter for Aug 28.

The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) had May 28 restrained the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) from appointing the new head in its forensic medicine department.

The tribunal was hearing a service-related case filed by Sudhir Gupta, head of the AIIMS forensic department.

Gupta filed a case before the principal CAT bench in New Delhi regarding promotion of another member of the faculty of forensic medicine department.

Earlier, Gupta created a controversy by saying he was pressurised by top officials to show Pushkar's death was "natural".

The AIIMS accused Gupta of causing adverse publicity for the institute by levelling baseless allegations.