By IANS
New Delhi : Renowned cardiologist Naresh Trehan and the Escorts hospital management Thursday appeared to be heading towards an amicable, out-of-court settlement of their dispute.
After a weeklong spat between the two sides following the removal of Trehan from the post of executive director of the Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre (EHIRC), none of them uttered a single word against each other on Thursday.
"Both parties have decided not to comment anything," said Sudarshan Mazumdar, marketing head of Fortis Healthcare that had acquired 90 percent stake in EHIRC in 2005 while the remaining stake is with Trehan.
Retreating almost the same statement, Trehan said: "I am not in a position to comment."
Trehan went to the hospital and conducted scheduled surgeries as there was near normalcy in the hospital, which witnessed a major setback on the patient care front in the last seven days.
Rajiv Sawhney, counsel for the group of doctors and paramedical staff loyal to Trehan, told the Delhi High Court that the petitioners had entered into a negotiation with the hospital management and were trying to sort out the dispute amicably for which they needed some time.
After the lawyers appealed, the high court adjourned Thursday's hearing and fixed Tuesday as the next date of hearing of the appeal on a petition by a group of Escorts hospital doctors for takeover of the institute's management by a court-appointed committee.
Justice Geeta Mittal deferred the hearing, saying, "Resolve the matter, safeguarding the interests of the patients."
In their petition, the doctors had also sought protection against their transfer or dismissal from the hospital in Delhi.
The doctors had moved court Wednesday along with Trehan, who had sought to be included as a party to an earlier petition by Anil Nanda of Escorts, challenging the transfer of the majority shares to the Fortis group.
On May 18, the EHIRC management had removed Trehan and five of his supporters from the hospital for "conflict of interest".
Meanwhile, sources in the hospital said that the Fortis and EHIRC management has almost agreed to avail the service of Trehan but "just in the capacity of a doctor, not as the executive director".