In WP(C) 6714 of 2021- DEL HC- PG Diploma in Maternal & Child Health of Indra Gandhi National Open University was never recognised by MCI /NMC, compelling NBE to confer benefit of reducing period of training disallowed: Delhi High Court 
Justice Prateek Jalan [31-05-2023]

Read Order: Ankit Sharma v Union of India

Simran Singh

New Delhi, June 1, 2023: The Delhi High Court declined relief to the doctor-petitioner who had sought a direction to the National Board of Examinations (NBE) to permit him to participate in the Post Diploma Centralised Entrance Test Counselling (CETC) on the basis of marks obtained by him in the Post Graduate Diploma in Maternal and Child Health (PGDMCH) course completed from the Indra Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU).

The Single-Judge Bench of Justice Prateek Jalan stated that the case of a regulated profession, such as medicine, was entirely different. The Post Graduate Diploma in Maternal and Child Health course of Indra Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU/respondent 3) was never recognised as a qualification by the Medical Council of India (MCI) with National Medical Commission (NMC), and to compel NBE to confer a benefit on the basis of such a qualification by reducing the period of training for Diplomate of National Board (DNB) would, in view of the Court, propagated a benefit being granted for a course which the regulator did not recognise.

The Bench stated that the admission to any other Post Graduate DNB course eligibility criteria for DNB-Post Diploma Centralised Entrance Test, required a Post Graduate Diploma recognised by the MCI/NMC. The petitioner admittedly did not possess such a qualification, and had also not challenged the eligibility criteria.

He had also sought a direction for allotment of a seat in the DNB for Family Medicine (Secondary) course on the basis of marks obtained by him in the PGDMCH course completed from IGNOU. He also preferred an alternative prayer for allotment of a seat in DNB for Obstetrics and Gynecology (Secondary) or Paediatrics (Secondary) course, or a seat in DNB Family Medicine (Primary) course, exempting him from appearing in the entrance exam, and also from payment of fee for first year, again on the basis of his PGDMCH qualification.

It was the case of the petitioner that PGDMCH qualification entitled him to admission in the DNB-FM course as a Secondary candidate vis-a-vis public notice dated 31-03-20101, issued by the NBE, and the 'Guidelines for Competency Based Training Programme in DNB- Family Medicine’ , which provided that a holder of the PGDMCH qualification would not be required to appear in the CETC, and could participate in counselling for DNB-FM (Secondary) course. He was aggrieved by the fact that when he had sought to apply for DNB-FM in the year 2021, NBE did not provide for such a benefit to PGDMCH qualified candidates. The petitioner raised his grievance with the Prime Minister’s Office, to which he received a response on 11-06-2021, stating that ‘the PGDMCH course of IGNOU was not recognised by MCI / NMC.

The Bench stated that the relief sought by the petitioner could not be granted both on account of the fact that the Secondary DNB-FM course had been discontinued by NBE, and on the ground that NBE was, in any event, entitled to modify the eligibility criteria in respect of the PGDMCH course.

“In any event, an academic body’s right to so decide is well established, and the proposition that courts should not sit in appeal over a policy decision is no longer res integra.” This principle had been laid down in the Supreme Court case in National Board of Examinations v. G. Anand Ramamurthy wherein it was stated that the High Court was not justified in directing the petitioner to hold examinations against its policy which was in complete disregard to the mandate of this Court for not interfering in the academic matters particularly when the interference in the facts of the instant matter lead to perversity and promotion of illegality.

The Bench disregarded petitioner’s reliance upon Suresh Pal v State of Haryana and stated that the Supreme Court was concerned with qualification for the purpose of employment as Physical Training Instructors. The qualification of the petitioner therein was recognised at the time when he took admission into the course. There was no question of requirement of a qualification recognised by a professional regulatory body such as the MCI/NMC and the recognition in question was only by the prospective employer for the purposes of the job.

It further stated that the petitioner’s alternative prayer for admission in Post MBBS DNB in Family Medicine without taking the NEET-PG examination was unmerited. The award of an unrecognised

qualification could not, in any event, confer a right upon the petitioner to an admission to a course without taking the basic qualifying examination. Petitioner’s final submission that he be allotted a Sponsored seat in DNB- Family Medicine also could not be granted. He was not qualified for the Sponsored seats which were available to government employees.

The Bench was of the view that in any event, the request was beyond the scope of writ petition, and had made by way of an additional affidavit dated 26-07-2022, when the admissions to the 2021-22 sessions were already long over. “The petitioner could not claim a vacant seat for which he is not otherwise eligible, merely on the ground that the seat remains vacant.”