CHANDRASHEKHAR WAMAN KARVE Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THESE petitions under Article 226 of the Constitution of India are by students who completed the requisite training for the Diploma Course known as "diploma in Medicine and Surgery (Rural)" under the Scheme laid down by the Government of Maharashtra. They seek a direction (i) to the Government of Maharashtra that the Diploma be awarded to them and (ii) to the Maharashtra Medical Council that the petitioners be registered as Medical Practitioners under section 16 of the Maharashtra Medical Council Act.

(2.) THE historical background of the case and the facts leading to the petitioners right to the reliefs are set out in paragraphs 3 and 4 below. The facts of the case of Chandrashekhar Karve, the petitioner in Writ Petition No. 2794 of 1989 are stated in details in Paragraph 5. The cases of the petitioners in Writ Petition Nos. 3058, 3908, 4896 and 3354, all of 1989, are identical in all respects and therefore, their cases re briefly set out in paragraph 6 below.

(3.) ON 28th September, 1979, the Government of Maharashtra, by a Resolution, started a three-year Diploma course in Medicine, designed to serve the rural population. The course commenced in the Civil Hospital at Kolhapur, Ratnagiri, Nanded, Akola and Dhule. The duration of three years included six months "apprenticeship". Between 1980 and 1984, students were admitted and they completed the course. So far, the Diploma course did not have a name. By the Resolution of the Government in Urban Development and Public Health Department, bearing No. MED 1080/3265/ph-7 dated 8th September, 1981, the Government directed that students who complete the required training and apprenticeship satisfactorily shall be awarded "diploma in Rural Medicine and Surgery, i. e. D. R. M. S. ". The qualification of D. R. M. S. did not have a place in the Schedule to the Maharashtra Medical Council Act, Maharashtra Act No. XLVI of 1965, hereinafter referred to as the Act. Section 16 (3) of the Act entitles the persons holding the qualifications specified in the Schedule to have their names registered as medical practitioners maintained by the Maharashtra Medical Council under sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 16 of the Act. In order to effectuate the object of granting the Diploma, the Government of Maharashtra, in exercise of its authority under section 28 (1) of the Act and in consultation with the Maharashtra Medical Council, hereinafter referred to as the M. M. C. , by the Notification dated 16th July, 1984, amended the Schedule and introduced Entry No. 17 which reads "diploma in Medicine and Surgery (Rural) (D. M. and S. (Rural)) granted by the Government of Maharashtra". Meanwhile, M. M. C. brought to the notice of the Government of Maharashtra that there is no subject known as Rural Medicine. Pursuant to the report of the committee appointed by it, the Government by a Resolution No. MED-1082/3333/ph-7 dated 4th August, 1982 decided that the nomenclature of the course "diploma in Rural Medicine and Surgery (D. R. M. and S.)" should be changed into "diploma in Medicine and Surgery (Rural) i. e. DM. and. S. (Rural)". Although it was in 1982 that the Government of Maharashtra decided to name the qualification as Diploma in Medicine and Surgery (Rural), its Resolution dated 16th July, 1984 introduced in the Schedule the qualification with the name as "diploma in Medicine and Surgery (D. M. and S.)".