OUWSHITHA SURENDRAN Vs. NATIONAL MEDICAL COMMISSION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The brief facts leading to the filing of this Writ Appeal are, that the Appellant, namely, Mrs. Ouwshitha Surendran, is an Overseas Citizen of India. The Appellant pursued her School Education in India in the Central Board of Secondary Education till her Class 10 from Bhavan's Gandhi Vidyashram, Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu. The Appellant's family moved to Sri Lanka and there she completed her 12th standard from Pearson Excel curriculum. Thereafter the Appellant completed her MBBS Degree from Sinchuan University, China. The Appellant had returned to India and she is also married to an Indian.

(2.) In the matter of Medical practice in India, Overseas Citizens of India are also treated on par with the citizens of India. As such any person, who has pursued her MBBS Degree outside India has to undertake and clear the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination conducted by the National Medical Commission (NMC). The Candidates have to apply for the said examination along with the Eligibility Certificate issued by the NMC. The Appellant's Application in R. 15012/001636/2021 was rejected on the ground that she hasn't studied English vide e-Mail, dtd. 6/5/2021. The Petitioner, therefore, made a detailed Representation on 10/5/2021, bringing to the Notice of the NMC that (i) all through her School and College, her medium of instruction is only English; (ii) She had studied English as a subject upto 10th Standard in the CBSE curriculum; (iii) She has also cleared IELTS examination with a score of 7.5/9; (iv) and that she is proficient in English.

(3.) The Appellant thereafter, approached this Court and by Order, dtd. 10/6/2021 in W.P. No.12558 of 2021, the NMC was directed to consider the Representations of the Petitioner and in the event the same being considered favourably, to permit her to write the examinations conducted on 18/6/2021. By an Order, dtd. 14/6/2021, referring to Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 1997, more particularly to Regulation No.5 and Chapter 4- Eligibility and Qualification Code-7 of National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test, the Appellant's Representation was rejected on the ground that she did not study English as a subject.