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2023 Supreme(Del) 3541
IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Satish Chandra Sharma, Saurabh Banerjee, JJ.
Abhishek Kumar & Ors. – Appellants
Versus
The Secretary Dental Council of India & Anr. – Respondents
W.P.(C) 10448 of 2023 & CM APPL. 40505 of 2023
Decided On : 29-08-2023
Mr. Arun Kumar Varma, Senior Advocate with Mr. Aslam Ahmed, Mr. Rohit Jain, Ms. Shabiesa Nabi and Mr. Hari Lal S., Advocates, for the Petitioner.
Mr. T. Singhdev, Mr. Abhijit Chakravarty, Mr. Bhanu Gulati, Mr.AabhasSukhramani, Mr. Tanishq Srivastava, Mr. Anum Hussain and Ms. Ramanpreet Kaur, Advocates, for the Respondent No.1.
Mr. Kirtiman Singh, CGSC with Mr.Waize Ali Noor, Mr. Madhav Bajaj& Ms. Shreya V. Mehra, Advocates, for the Respondent No.2/NBE.
Headnote:
Regulation 11 - Constitutional Validity - Dentists Act, 1948, Regulation 11 of the Dental Council of India Screening Test Regulations, 2009 - Summary of Acts and Sections: Regulation 11 of the Dental Council of India Screening Test Regulations, 2009 - The judgment discusses the constitutional validity of Regulation 11, which prescribes the pattern of examination for the Foreign Dental Screening Test (FDST) under the Dentists Act, 1948. The court analyzes the requirement for candidates to score 50% marks in each written test individually and separately score 50% marks in the Viva, and considers previous judgments and expert opinions in the field of dentistry.
Fact of the Case:
The Petitioners, holding professional dentistry degrees from foreign universities, challenged the constitutional validity of Regulation 11 of the Dental Council of India Screening Test Regulations, 2009, which mandates the Foreign Dental Screening Test (FDST) for registration with a State Dental Council in India. The Petitioners failed to meet the Viva requirement and sought relief from the court.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the regulation was valid and declined to interfere in the matter, citing the expertise of the Dental Council of India in formulating the examination pattern and the lack of grounds for declaring the regulation unconstitutional. The court dismissed the writ petition, stating that the Petitioners had not demonstrated any ground for relief.
Issues: Constitutional validity of Regulation 11 of the Dental Council of India Screening Test Regulations, 2009, and the denial of relief to the Petitioners by the Dental Council of India.
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that the regulation was valid, considering the expertise of the Dental Council of India and previous judgments emphasizing deference to expert opinions in academic matters. The court also noted that the Petitioners had the opportunity to re-appear for the examination and had not been deprived of a chance to clear the FDST.
Final Decision: The court dismissed the writ petition, finding no grounds for declaring Regulation 11 of the Regulations as unconstitutional and declining to interfere with the examination pattern formulated by the expert body of the Dental Council of India.
JUDGMENT
Satish Chandra Sharma, C.J. The Petitioners before this Court are six persons holding professional degrees in dentistry i.e., Bachelor of Dental Surgery ("BDS")/Master of Dental Surgery ("MDS")/Doctor of Dental Surgery ("DDS") or equivalent qualifications from foreign universities. The Petitioners have filed the present writ petition challenging the constitutional validity of Regulation 11 of the Dental Council of India Screening Test Regulations, 2009 (the "Regulations").
2. The details regarding the Petitioners' qualifications, accomplishments and work experience are highlighted as under:
| "Petitioner | Qualifications | Other Accomplishments | No. of years of practice in Dentistry |
| Abhishek Kumar | Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) from BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan. Nepal in 2007 Master of Dental Surgery (MDS) from Kathmandu University in 2011 | Worked as an Assistant Professor in BP Koirala and Associate Professor in KIST Medical College, Kathmandu Several certificates of appreciation and participation in Dental conferences | 16 years with provisional license to practice and teach dentistry in Nepal |
| Kriti Rathi | Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) (2013-2019) from College of Medical Sciences, Bharatpur, Nepal | Internship at College of Medical Sciences, Nepal (2019-2020) Volunteer at Annual Joint Meeting of Nepalese association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons in joint collaboration with Japanese society of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons in the year 2020 | 0 |
| Shweta Singh | Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) from M.B. Kedia Dental College, Chhapkaiya, Birgunj-2, Nepal (2007-2012) | Internship from M.B. Kedia Dental College, Nepal (2012-2013) | Practiced as a dentist in Birgunj, Nepal (2013-2014) |
| Manjot Kaur | Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) from Howard University College of Dentistry 2012-2016, Washington DC.USA | Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) from Virginia Commonwealth University 2016-2017 Virginia, USA Attended several continuing education courses, seminars and dental conferences | Practiced as a General Dentist for 5 years (2017-2022) in Virginia and California, USA |
| Anisha Garg | Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) from People's Dental College and hospital Kathmandu, Nepal (2016-2021) | Internship from People's Dental College and hospital (2021-2022) Several certificate of participation in hands on workshops | Volunteered at a clinic for few months in Nepal |
| Neha Sharan | Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) from College of Medical Sciences, Bharatpur, Nepal (2013-2019) | Internship at College of Medical Sciences, Nepal (2019-2020) Certificates of appreciation and participation in Endodontic rotary instrument workshop | Volunteered at a clinic for 2 years in Nepal." |
3. The Petitioners' have stated that they have obtained their professional degrees from foreign universities. Resultantly, the Petitioners must undergo and pass the Foreign Dental Screening Test ("FDST") envisaged under the 2009 Regulations in order to become eligible for registration with a State Dental Council in India.
4. The scheme of the FDST as per Regulation 11 of the Regulations contemplates 2 (two) written examinations and a Viva-Voce examination ("Viva"). Regulation 11 provides that a candidate must score 50% marks in both the written tests, i.e., Paper-I for a total of 100 marks and Paper-II for a total of 150 marks, individually, which would make the candidate eligible for appearing in the Viva. It is further provided that a candidate must score 50% marks separately in the Viva. It is only after obtaining 50% marks in the both the written examinations, individually, as well as scoring 50% marks in the Viva, that a candidate passes the FDST.
5. It is stated that a notification was issued on 11.10.2022 by the Dental Council of India ("DCI")/Respondent No.1 for conducting the FDST 2022. The Petitioners participated in the written examination and the result thereof was declared on 08.02.2023. Out of the 22 candidates who appeared in the written examination, 11 cleared the same, including al
