J SAI PRASANNA Vs. MEDICAL COUNCIL OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners in these three writ petitions are similarly situated and are aggrieved by the action of the Medical Council of India in not granting Provisional Registration Certificate to the petitioners under Section 25 of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956. Hence, they are heard together and decided by this common order.

(2.) The facts which are not in dispute are as under: The petitioners in W.P.No.19238 and 19239 of 2006 passed Higher Secondary School Examination with Science group at Chennai. The petitioner in W.P.No.24645 of 2006 passed Intermediate conducted by the Board of Intermediate Education, A.P., Hyderabad with Bi.P.C. (Biology, Physics and Chemistry) group. Thereafter, they joined the MBBS course in International Medical and Technological University (for short, 'IMTU'), Tanzania, established by the Vignan Educational Foundation, Bangalore by entering into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Tanzania. Though IMTU functions at Tanzania, the Pre-Clinical Courses are being conducted at Guntur in Andhra Pradesh. The petitioners herein completed the Pre-Clinical Courses at Guntur and thereafter the rest of the MBBS course was completed at Tanzania. They appeared and succeeded in the final year MBBS examinations held in Tanzania. Accordingly, they were awarded degrees by IMTU.

(3.) Thereafter, the petitioners appeared for the Screening Test conducted by the National Board of Examinations, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi, for Indian National with Foreign Medical Qualification, under the provisions of the Screening Test Regulations, 2002 made by the Medical Council of India. All of them were declared passed. Pursuant thereto, the petitioners made applications before the 1st respondent - Medical Council of India (MCI) seeking provisional registration as per the provisions of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 so as to enable them to practice medicine in India. The Medical Council of India, by separate letters dated 27-4-2006 informed the petitioners that they are not eligible for grant of registration since they had studied part of their medical course in India before completing the course from IMTU in Tanzania. Aggrieved by the said action, these three writ petitions are filed.