NIRMALJIT KAUR,J. - (1.) The present writ petition has been filed by the petitioner against the action of the respondent - Medical Council of India which has refused to grant the eligibility certificate required for the purpose of registration as a Medical Practitioner and for pursuing further studies on the ground that the petitioner had not attained the age of 17 years on the date of admission in the Lugansk State Medical University, Ukraine.
(2.) The petitioner graduated from the Lugansk State Medical University, Ukraine (hereinafter referred as "L.S.M.U.") after completing six years course commencing from 2008 to 2014. Admittedly, the Higher Education in speciality General Medicine Course undertaken by the petitioner is equivalent to the M.B.B.S. Course in India. It is also not disputed that the same is recognized by the Medical Council of India (hereinafter referred as "M.C.I."). However, on return to India after completing his course, the petitioner applied for the examination conducted by the National Board of Examination and participated in the Foreign Medical Screening Test conducted on 29.06.2015. The petitioner was declared successful in the said screening test. Thereafter, the petitioner approached the authorities of the National Board of Examination for issuance of the passing certificate of the FMG Screening Test but vide Letter dated 10.08.2015, he was informed by the authorities of the National Board of Examination that he is first required to get the eligibility certificate issued by the M.C.I. The M.C.I., however, vide their Letter dated 24.09.2009 refused to grant the eligibility certificate for the reason that his age was below 17 years at the time when he joined the course in the L.S.M.U. in the year 2008. Aggrieved, the petitioner has filed the present writ petition challenging the action of the respondents in not granting the eligibility certificate for the purpose of registration as a medical practitioner and for pursuing further studies.
(3.) Reply has been filed. As per the reply and the contention of Mr. R.S. Saluja, learned counsel for the respondent-M.C.I., the regulations have been framed under the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 for the candidates who wish to join the foreign medical institutes for the purpose of obtaining the primary medical qualifications. As per the Regulation 4 of the Eligibility Requirement for Taking Admission in an Undergraduate Medical Course in a Foreign Medical Institution Regulations, 2002 (hereinafter referred as "the Regulations of 2002"), a candidate is required to obtain the eligibility certificate before proceeding to undertake the studies in a foreign country. As per the Regulation 8 of the Regulations of 2002, the Council shall consider the application for eligibility certificate and issue the same only in case, the said eligibility criteria laid down by the Council is fulfilled. Regulation 8 reads as under:- "8. The Council shall consider the application for Eligibility Certificate and verify the following details as per the Regulations of the Council - (i) Whether the candidate fulfills the age criterion prescribed by the Council ? (ii) Whether the candidate fulfills the eligibility criteria for admission to MBBS course in India as prescribed in the Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 1997, i.e., minimum qualifying marks criteria in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and English, including relaxed criteria in case the candidate belongs to a reserved category ? (iii) If the candidate belongs to SC/ST/OBC, whether he/she has produced a caste certificate from a Competent Authority ?";