The Gujarat High Court has stayed the Gujarat Medical Council’s (GMC) order suspending three dermatologists for 13 months over allegations of accepting a pharmaceutical company-sponsored foreign trip.The GMC had suspended Dr Jagdishkumar Sakhiya, Dr Ami Shah of Surat and Dr Geeta Patel of Ahmedabad on June 30.
The three were among 30 doctors across India accused of attending a pharma-sponsored trip to Monaco and Paris in 2024, allegedly violating the council’s code of conduct. Dr Sakhiya is also the president of the Indian Association of Dermatologists, Venereologists and Leprologists (IADVL).The action followed an anonymous complaint to the National Medical Commission (NMC), which directed the GMC to investigate the allegations against the Gujarat-based doctors.
In their petition before the High Court, the doctors said they had travelled abroad to attend anti-ageing treatment training programmes organised by a multinational company. They also alleged that the complaint was driven by corporate rivalry.
The petitioners argued that while the company involved received only a reprimand, the doctors were given an excessively harsh punishment. Seeking interim relief, they challenged the suspension order.
After a preliminary hearing, Justice Nirzar Desai issued a notice to the GMC, asking it to file its response by September 8. The court also granted interim relief by staying the suspension order until further directions.