Mandatory NEET qualification to pursue MBBS from Foreign Medical Institutions, Supreme Court upholds MCI’s regulation

Recently, the Supreme Court (SC) of India was hearing petitions challenging the regulation brought out by the Medical Council of India (MCI) (now known as the National Medical Commission) requiring further eligibility criteria with respect to pursuing undergraduate medical courses in a Foreign Medical Institution. The Foreign Medical Institution Regulation, 2002 was incorporated with additional criteria numbered Clause 8(iv) which mandated qualification on the “National Eligibility-cum-Entrance test for admission to MBBS course” (NEET) which would be deemed to be treated as the Eligibility Certificate for students desirous of pursuing primary undergraduate medical education from any medical institution outside India; which was an addition to the requirement of fulfilling the eligibility criteria for admission to the MBBS course prescribed in the Regulations on Graduate Medical Education, 1997. The SC bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran upheld the regulation stating, “The requirement of an Eligibility Certificate from the Medical Council had been provided by section 13(4B) by an amendment in the year 2001 and the incorporation of sub-Clause (iv) under Clause 8 in the year 2018; mandating qualification in the NEET exam, ensures a fair and transparent procedure in the grant of Eligibility Certificate. The regulation does not in any manner conflict with the enactment...We find absolutely no reason to interfere with the regulations…”

While hearing the matter, the bench highlighted that “the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 was amended (by Amendment Act 34 of 2001) incorporating sub-section (4A) and (4B) under Section 13. Section 13 (4A) required a citizen of India who obtains medical qualification from any institution outside the country to qualify in a screening test before he/she is entitled to be enrolled in the Medical Register maintained by a State Medical Council or the Indian Medical Register. Sub-section (4B) also required an eligibility certificate to be obtained from the Medical Council before the student gets admission to a course leading to a primary medical qualification from any medical institution in a foreign country.” During the proceedings, the learned counsel appearing for the petitioners contented, “...the said requirement was first introduced in the year 2018 by a notification without an amendment to the statute itself. The requirement for such qualification in the NEET hence cannot be insisted, which goes against the statute.” As the top court disagreed to consider the petition challenging the regulations, the petitioner’s learned counsel sought a one-time exemption from the regulations’ application to them to enable the grant of an eligibility certificate. 

The SC bench said, “Obviously, with open eyes, after the amended regulations came into effect if any candidate chose to obtain admission in a foreign institution for pursuing a course leading to a primary medical qualification, they cannot seek for an exemption from the regulations; which lays down essential eligibility criteria for practicing medicine within the Country. This does not restrict their right to practice anywhere outside India.” It concluded, “The regulations, especially the additional mandate to satisfy the eligibility criteria, is not ultra vires the Constitution and neither is it in conflict with any provisions of the Act nor on any count arbitrary or unreasonable.”