Medical Council of India v. Prashant Kumar Gupta & Anr

RAJIV SAHAI ENDLAW, J

JANUARY 24, 2014 pp..

*IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI % Date of decision: 24th January, 2014 + LPA 70/2014, CM No.1451/2014 (for stay), CM No.1452/2014 (for exemption), CM No.1453/2014 (permission to file lengthy synopsis), CM No.1454/2014 (for condonation of 24 days delay in filing the appeal) and CM No.1455/2014 (for condonation of 18 days delay in refiling). MEDICAL COUNCIL OF INDIA ..... Appellant Through: Mr. Maninder Singh, Sr. Adv. with Mr. T. Singhdev, Adv. versus PRASHANT KUMAR GUPTA & ANR ..... Respondents Through: Mr. Sunil Kumar &Mr. Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Advs. for R-2/UOI. CORAM:- HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJIV SAHAI ENDLAW 1. This intra court appeal impugns the judgment dated 30th September, 2013 of the learned Single Judge of this Court in W.P.(C) No.6452/2012 preferred by the respondent no.1 (respondent no.2 is the Union of India) directing the appellant to grant provisional registration under Section 25(1) of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 to the respondent no.1 in case he had passed the Screening Test held on 25th March, 2012. 2. The counsel for the respondent no.2 Union of India appears on advance notice. We have heard the senior counsel for the appellant at length. 3. The respondent no.1, after obtaining Eligibility Certificate from the appellant under The Eligibility Requirement For Taking Admission In An Undergraduate Medical Course In A Foreign Medical Institution Regulations 2002, acquired doctor of medicine (MD Degree) from Khazar University, Baku, Azerbaijan, equivalent to the MBBS degree in India and underwent the Screening Test conducted by the National Board of Examinations, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare under The Screening Test Regulations, 2002 and successfully passed the same. However the appellant still refused to grant provisional registration to the respondent no.1 under Section 25(1) of the Act to enable the respondent no.1 to undergo practical training and whereafter the respondent no.1 would be entitled to practice medicine, on the ground that the foreign University from which the respondent no.1 had acquired the foreign medical qualification was, earlier, without obtaining any approval under Section 10A of the Act was having its off campus in India in the name and style of Sidhant Institute of Medical Services and Research and the respondent no.1 had been admitted for first year of his medical course in such off campus of the foreign University at India. 4. The learned Single Judge has found the denial by the appellant of provisional registration to the respondent no.1on the aforesaid ground to be contrary to the law laid down in Medical Council of India Vs. J. Saai Prasanna (2011) 11 SCC 748 and hence has allowed the writ petition. The Supreme Court in the said judgment, in paras 10 to 14, has held as under:- "10. MCI contends that where student of a foreign University undergo a part of his training in an Institution in India which has not obtained the permission from the Central Government/MCI, as required under section 10A of the Act, such students are not eligible for registration as medical practitioners in India. The requirements for recognition of a medical qualification granted by a medical institution outside India are different from requirements for recognition of medical qualification granted by Universities or medical institutions in India. It is no doubt true that if a student in India, does a course of study in medicine in a medical college in India which does not have the permission of the Central Government under Section 10A of the Act, the medical qualification granted to any student of that college will not be a recognized medical qualification for the purposes of the Act and consequently such student will not be entitled to be enrolled in the India Medical Register or State Medical Register. 11. But medical qualifications granted by medical institutions outside India are dealt within a special provision, that is, Section 13(4A) of the Act. Necessarily