The Supreme Court on Monday, 31 August, held that the Medical Council of India (MCI) does not enjoy any power to frame regulations pertaining to reservations for in-service candidates in post-graduate medical degree courses in any particular course, reports Live Law.
A five-judge constitution bench comprising justices Arun Mishra, MR Shah, Indira Banerjee, Vineet Saran and Aniruddha Bose maintained that since the MCI has limited source of power to lay down standards, all regulations framed by it on reservation for in-service candidates in PG Medical Courses are ultra vires or beyond its legal authority.
The court clarified that the order will only apply prospectively and will, therefore, not be applicable on admissions done in the past.
The apex court also said that states can frame their own regulations for reservations of in-service candidates in PG Medical courses and may also ask beneficiaries of such reservation to serve rural, hilly or tribal areas for a period of five years.
The Backdrop
A group of doctors from Kerala, Maharashtra and Haryana had moved the Supreme court, challenging the Post Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2000, which was framed by the MCI.
The petitioners argued that the MCI had, in Post Graduate Diploma courses, allowed 50 percent reservation for medical officers in government service, but the same was barred in PG Degree courses.
They also contended that the lack of reservation for government doctors who have served the underprivileged for years, would discourage young medical graduates from taking up service. Such a discouragement would crumble the public health infrastructure in the country, the petitioners had said.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)