Ketan Desai (urologist)


Dr. Ketan Desai is the former president of Medical Council of India and the President 2016 of the World Medical Association. He has served as Head of Urology department at B.J. Medical College, Ahmedabad. He is currently a member of Gujarat Medical Council.

Early life

Desai is a native of Gujarat’s Maroli village. He completed his school graduation from Hansraj Morarji Public School, where his father Dirubhai Desai was a teacher for the primary section. After school, he completed his MBBS and M.Ch in urology in the year 1983 from B.J. Medical College, Ahmedabad.

Career

After graduating from B.J. Medical College in Ahmedabad in 1983, he became the head of urology department in the same year and still serves as Head. He became the youngest head ever in Indian history. He later became syndicate and senate member of the Gujarat University with most of the time uncontested. He became president of Gujarat Medical Council in the 1990s and became president of Medical Council of India in 2001. He has also served as president of Indian Medical Association and Dental Council of India. He later become president of World Medical Association in 2016.
On 23 April 2010, he and other doctors were arrested on corruption charges of Rs 2 crore to recognize a college in Punjab. His medical practitioner's license was suspended by the MCI in October.
In the year 2010 he was reelected as senate member of Gujarat University after a legal challenge was dismissed. In 2013, the Gujarat University senate unanimously nominated Dr Desai to the MCI, which apparently has no powers to reject the nomination.

Controversy

The MCI was dissolved by the President of India on 15 May 2010 following the arrest of MCI's president Ketan Desai by the CBI on 22 April 2010. Desai, alleged middle-man J. P. Singh and doctors Sukhwinder Singh and Kanwaljit Singh have been booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The CBI recovered 1.5 kg of gold and 80 kg of silver from Desai's premises. Further, gold worth ₨ 35 lakhs were recovered from Desai's bank lockers in Ahmedabad. CBI told that he had more than 35 lockers which were then yet to be opened and contents noted. He also was reported to own more than 400 properties across the country.