The central legal point established in the judgment is the interpretation of the English proficiency requirement for medical practice eligibility and the influence of evolving educational trends on the court's decision.

JUDGMENT :

D.Bharatha Chakravarthy, J.

Prayer : Writ Appeal filed under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent, to set aside the order dated 25.10.2021 made in W.P.No.12782 of 2021 and allow the above Writ Petition as prayed for.

The brief facts leading to the filing of this Writ Appeal are, that the appellant, namely, Mrs.Ouwshitha Surendran, is an Overseas Citizen of India. The appellant pursued her school education in India in the Central Board of Secondary Education till her class 10 from Bhavan’s Gandhi Vidyashram, Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu. The appellant’s family moved to Sri Lanka and there she completed her 12th standard from Pearson Excel curriculum. Thereafter the appellant completed her MBBS degree from Sinchuan University, China. The appellant had returned to India and she is also married to an Indian.

2. In the matter of medical practice in India, Overseas Citizens of India are also treated on par with the citizens of India. As such any person who has pursued her MBBS degree outside India has to undertake and clear the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination conducted by the National Medical Commission (NMC). The candidates have to apply for the said examination along with the Eligibility Certificate issued by the NMC. The appellant’s application in R. 15012/001636/2021 was rejected on the ground that she hasn’t studied English vide e-mail dated 06.05.2021. The petitioner therefore made a detailed representation on 10.05.2021, bringing to the notice of the NMC that (i) all through her school and college, her medium of instruction is only English; (ii) She had studied English as a subject upto 10th Standard in the CBSE curriculum; (iii) She has also cleared IELTS examination with a score of 7.5/9; (iv) and that she is proficient in English.

3. The appellant thereafter, approached this Court and by Order dated 10.06.2021 in W.P. No. 12558 of 2021, the NMC was directed to consider the representations of the petitioner and in the event the same being considered favourably, to permit her to write the examinations conducted on 18.06.2021. By an order dated 14.06.2021, referring to Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 1997, more particularly to Regulation No. 5 and Chapter 4 - Eligibility and Qualification Code -7 of National Eligibility-cum- Entrance Test, the appellant’s representation was rejected on the ground that she did not study English as a subject.

4. The appellant therefore filed W.P. No.12782 of 2021, challenging the said Order. The Writ petition was resisted by filing of counter affidavit. It is the case of the NMC that the curriculum underwent by the petitioner at the 12th level does not have English as a mandatory subject. It is contended that the appellant did not undergo regular, continuous and co-terminus/simultaneous teaching and training in the subject of English as per the provisions of eligibility requirement for taking admission in an Undergraduate Medical Course in a Foreign Medical Institution Regulations, 2002, read with Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 1997, as well as the Code-7 under Chapter 4 of the NEET – UG, 2021.

5. Pending the Writ Petition, by an interim order, the appellant was also permitted to undertake the examination and the results were directed to be placed in a sealed cover. Thereafter, by a Judgment dated 25.10.2021, the Writ Petition was dismissed. The Learned Single Judge considered the issue and held that the appellant did not qualify as per the Rules. The Rules are mandatory. The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in the case of Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences -Vs- Srikeerthi Reddi Pingle & Ors., (2021) 14 SCC 134 has directed that the rules be scrupulously followed. Therefore, the appellant was held unqualified and the writ petition was dismissed. Aggrieved by the same present Writ Appeal is filed.

6. We heard Mr. Srinath Sridevan, Learned Senior Counsel on behalf o