Court backs MCI rules on doctors with foreign degrees

Observing that medical courses were to save human lives and could not be studied for a short-term duration, the Madras High Court on Thursday backed the rules and regulations laid down by the Medical Council of India as an eligibility criterion for those who studied medical courses in foreign countries for practising medicine in India.

The first bench of Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy not only dismissed the plea by Aravind, who claimed that he wants to pursue MBBS in Mauritius, but also imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 after noting that the litigant has moved the plea without even applying for a medical course in Mauritius.

The petitioner had sought a direction to quash certain rules of MCI, submitting that these standards restrained people who studied medical courses abroad from practising in India.

“As per the MCI rules, if a medical student wants to pursue a medical course in a foreign nation, his course duration should be a minimum of 54 months. Subsequently, he should do the practice for a year in a foreign nation. After that, he has to clear a qualifying examination set by MCI. It is also necessary to work in a medical college for a year. However, in my case, the course period in Mauritius is merely 34 months. If I study MBBS in Mauritius, my dream to become a doctor in India will not be fulfilled because of the MCI rules,” the petitioner submitted.

However, the bench rejected his contentions observing that the MCI had framed these rules after consulting with the experts by getting their inputs. The bench directed the petitioner to deposit the Rs 25,000 cost it imposed to State Legal Services Authority within 15 days.