Petitioners who are holders of MBBS degrees, must be made aware of their results, so that they may either pursue studies or practice medicine or appear for re-examination, held, S.C. GUPTE AND SURENDRA P. TAVADE, JJ; while adjudicating the matter in Anita Kishanrao Videkar v. UOI; [WRIT PETITION NO.5343 OF 2018].
The Petitioners in these petitions are all holders of MBBS Degree from different medical colleges. After obtaining such degree, they proceeded to undertake and complete post graduate diploma courses in medicine or surgery, as the case may be, conducted by College of Physicians and Surgeons, Bombay. These diploma courses, conducted by the College of Physicians and Surgeons, have since long been recognized as intermediate post graduate qualifications. A pre-constitution law, Indian Medical Degrees Act, 1916, which had the assent of Governor General of India on 16 March 2016, recognized diplomas awarded by the College of Physicians and Surgeons as a recognized qualification, along with three other categories of organizations/colleges, for prosecuting Western Medical Science including Allopathic Medicine. By a stroke of luck, the specifics of which we need not go into for the purpose of these petitions, suddenly by a Notification issued on 2 December 2009 by the Union Government, various post graduate diploma courses conducted by the College of Physicians and Surgeons came to be de-recognized. This state of affairs continued till about 17 December 2017. By a Notification dated 17 January 2017, issued by Union Government, after consulting Medical Council of India, recognition of individual post graduate diploma courses conducted by the College of Physicians and Surgeons came to be restored through an amendment to the First Schedule of Medical Council of India Act. Various individual diplomas granted by the College of Physicians and Surgeons, ever since December 2009, came to be included once again as recognized medical qualifications.
The individual Petitioners before us had, on the basis of diplomas held by them through College of Physicians and Surgeons, applied for admission to Secondary DNB course, which is a post graduate course of two years and which requires as a qualifying condition for admission holding of a recognised post graduate diploma. Based on the recognition granted by Notification of 17 January 2017, the Petitioners were considered eligible for appearing at a Common Entrance Test (“CET”) for admission to Secondary DNB course. Even their results at CET were declared accordingly. So far so good. Subsequent to their having cleared CET, Union of India proceeded to issue yet another notification, Notification dated 22 January 2018 (Gazetted on 12 February 2018), once again derecognising the diplomas awarded by the College of Physicians and Surgeons. As a result of this last Notification, Respondent No.3-Board refused to permit the Petitioners to undertake the Secondary DNB course any further. This led to the Petitioners filing the present group of petitions.
The Court upon considering the aforesaid facts allowed the petitions and stated that; “Such of the Petitioners, whose results have been withheld, shall be entitled for declaration of their individual results and be allowed to prosecute either further studies or practice medicine on that basis. Those of the Petitioners, who have for any reason failed in their Secondary DNB examination, shall be entitled to reappear at the examination and declaration of their results at such re-examination. Since appearance at the practical examination of those of the Petitioners, who have given theory papers of Secondary DNB course, depends on their results at the theory papers, they would be entitled to appear for their practical examination accordingly”
