JUDGMENT

S.C. Gupte, J. - This group of petitions challenges action on the part of the Respondent authorities, particularly, National Board of Examination (Respondent No.3), in holding that the Petitioners were not eligible to pursue Secondary Diplomate of National Board ("DNB") course on the basis of qualifying diploma courses completed by the Petitioners.

2. The Petitioners in these petitions are all holders of MBBS Degree from different medical colleges. After obtaining such degree, they proceeded to undertake and complete post graduate diploma courses in medicine or surgery, as the case may be, conducted by College of Physicians and Surgeons, Bombay. These diploma courses, conducted by the College of Physicians and Surgeons, have since long been recognized as intermediate post graduate qualifications. A pre-constitution law, Indian Medical Degrees Act, 1916, which had the assent of Governor General of India on 16 March 2016, recognized diplomas awarded by the College of Physicians and Surgeons as a recognized qualification, along with three other catagories of organizations/colleges, for prosecuting Western Medical Science including Allopathic Medicine. By a stroke of luck, the s