CWG a 'distant memory' for Suresh Kalmadi?

New Delhi:  There are several forgettable memories associated with the Commonwealth Games as far as former CWG Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi is concerned. And, interestingly, his defence in court is on similar lines.

The CWG scam accused has now claimed he suffers from dementia. His detractors are not buying it. Even party colleague, sports minister Ajay Maken has not responded favourably. Maken on Monday said Kalmadi cannot escape from the law just because he is suffering from dementia.

Medical experts say though dementia is rampant among politicians, it is curable. Legal luminaries, on the other hand, say it could be a tried and tested strategy by Kalmadi to evade corruption charges levelled against him.

Dementia became the buzzword in the national political circle with Kalmadi's; not many people knew till Monday that 3.7 million Indians suffer from genuine dementia.

National Chairman of Alzheimer's and Related Disorders Society of India (ARDSI), Dr K Jacob Roy told MiD DAY: "The most famous case is that of Ronald Reagan, who had confirmed Alzheimer's; many believe that he had the disease even while holding the post of president of US. Our situation is different; most people don't want to admit it because many perceive it as a mental illness. Recently the case of former defence minister George Fernandez came up purely because of legal issues.

The recent news of Kalmadi being diagnosed to have dementia is causing quite a stir, mainly because he stands accused in financial irregularities. Our doctors are capable of making a fairly good diagnosis of dementia with investigations like MRI."

Dr Ajay Pal Singh, psychologist, Max Healthcare said, "Dementia is caused when a person's brain cells start dying. It can be due to some deposits in the brain. Due to dementia that person loses his memory. He may forget to dress up or forget his house and keep wandering around. Generally, it is seen in people above the age group of 60 but there can be exceptions everywhere. Talking about Kalmadi, it seems unlikely that he is suffering from dementia since he was running a huge organisation. But yes, there are ways by which you can judge whether he is lying about his disease or not."

"As Kalmadi has never revealed about his disease ever when he was holding the important post, it is hard for anyone to believe that he is actually suffering from the disease. Many feel he is just saying so to save himself from the law," said Omprakash, a lawyer at Tis Hazari court.

Meanwhile, BJP leader Prakash Javadekar told MiD DAY, "It is a legal tactic. They will have to prove that it (the disease) was seven years old. Kalmadi should have left the job at that time only. He has betrayed the nation. He has betrayed the voter of his constituency, Pune. Now he is betraying the court. The Court will find the truth."

66-year-old Kalmadi, who has been lodged in Tihar jail for the last two months, was recently taken to Lok Narayan Jai Prakash Hospital and an MRI scan was conducted on him.