Govt, MCI to Reply on Plea to Recognise Foreign PG Degree

Government and Medical Council of India (MCI) have to respond to the Delhi High Court on a plea seeking recognition of foreign post-graduate medical degrees in India.

MCI and Health Ministry have been asked by a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw to file counter affidavit on the plea filed by four doctors with post-graduate qualification from the Zheng Zhou University at China.

The existing provisions of law and rules of MCI, one cannot practice in India as specialist doctor with a foreign degree contended doctors’ counsel Prashant Bhushan.

Doctors’ advocate was asked “can there be any bar on declaring some doctor as specialist after having a foreign post-graduate degree,” by the bench.

MCI’s counsel opposed the petitioners’ contention by saying that under the existing rule only professionals with foreign primary medical qualification was registered in Indian Medical Register or the State Medical Register after they qualified a screening test.

The petition was filed by four doctors Dr Madhur Eshwar Rao Basude, Dr Harish Kalra, Dr Shreyash Dadasaheb Pattekari and Dr Atul Anantrao Chaudhari, who got post-graduate qualification (MD/MS) from the Chinese University.

MCI is the body responsible for standards of medical education in India and recognition of medical qualifications.

As MCI did recognise the primary medical degree of Zeng Zhou University/ Hospital after conducting a screening test but they were not conducting any such tests for post-graduate degree from the same university due to which they were unable to practice in India, claimed petitioners.

It stated that in “precluding the specialist doctors, the respondents are not only in violation of the Act, but are also infracting their fundamental rights under the Constitution.”