New Delhi, May 15 (Inditop) An ordinance dissolving the Medical Council of India (MCI) and replacing it with a seven-member governing committee of eminent doctors was signed by President Pratibha Patil Saturday, a Rashtrapti Bhavan official said.

The committee will serve for one year, Health Secretary Sujatha Rao said.

The law ministry had notified the ordinance.

The government decided to bring the ordinance after a crisis hit the regulatory body after its president Ketan Desai was arrested April 22 by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs.2 crore to recognise a medical college in Punjab though it did not meet MCI standards.

The Gujarat government has placed Desai under suspension.