AC-2025-MAN-000198 - [2025] EWHC 3017 (Admin)

The grounds of appeal

Dr Kumar appeals against the Tribunal’s decision on the following grounds. First, that it unfairly refused to admit evidence concerning the Assistant Registrar’s decision not to conduct the review as an ROP. (The substance of this point is that at the hearing, Dr Kumar asked that the Assistant Registrar be required to attend the hearing to give evidence, and the Tribunal refused this request.) Secondly, that the Tribunal acted wrongly and irrationally when it departed from a conclusion reached at the time of the review in 2017 that Dr Kumar had insight into his conduct. Thirdly, it is submitted that the sanction of erasure from the Register was disproportionate and was reached by the Tribunal inconsistently with the Sanctions Guidance published by the GMC. Fourthly, it is contended that the Tribunal acted in breach ECHR article 3 by disregarding evidence relating to Dr Kumar’s mental health. Fifthly, it is said that the Tribunal’s decision was affected by systemic bias and/or was predetermined, and that the Tribunal was wrong to proceed in Dr Kumar’s absence on 1 April 2025.

Decision