$~

* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI Judgment reserved on: 23.07.2026 % Judgment delivered on:03.09.2026 # CNR No : DLHC010513632025 + W.P.(C) 11266/2025, CM APPL. 46312/2025, CM APPL.

27936/2026 & CM APPL. 46444/2026 BRIJ SHARADBHAI BHATT AND ORS .....Petitioners Through: Dr. Manish Singhvi, Sr. Adv. with Mr. D. K. Devesh, Adv.

Mr. Satish Pandey and Ms. Jay Jamini Pandey, Advs.

versus NATIONAL MEDICAL COMMISSION AND ORS .....Respondents Through: Mr. Bishwabandhu, SC with Mr.

Bipul Kumar, Ms. Nisha, Advs. for R-1 Mr. Waize Ali Noor, Mr. Mrinal Kr. Sharma, Mr. Z. Rahman, Advs. for R-

2 Mr.Varun Mishra, SPC for UoI with Mr.Ashar Hussan, Adv for R-3 & 4.

CORAM:

HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE TEJAS KARIA

J U D G M E N T

DEVENDRA KUMAR UPADHYAYA, C.J.

CHALLENGE AND BACKGROUND FACTS

1. The petitioners, who are Indian citizens, having pursued their studies in allopathic system of medicine abroad, have instituted the instant petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India against the denial of their request to take the Screening Test conducted by respondent No.2 – National Board of Examination in Medical Sciences (hereinafter referred to as “National Board”) which would have entitled them to be registered as medical practitioners by the respondent No.1 – National Medical Commission (hereinafter referred to as “NMC”) enabling them to practice allopathy in India.

2. The first prayer made in the writ petition is that Regulation 4(1) of the Screening Test Regulations, 2002 (hereinafter referred to as “Screening Regulations”) which was inserted by a notification dated 26.09.2009, be declared ultra vires and unconstitutional.

2.1 By the impugned Regulation, the institutions included in the World Directory of Medical Schools published by the World Health Organisation („WHO‟) were excluded from the category of institutions whose qualification, awarded to a person, was earlier treated to be a Primary Medical Qualification (hereinafter referred to as “PMQ”), making such a person eligible to be allowed to appear in the Screening Test.

2.2 The impugned Regulation 4.1 of the Screening Regulations is quoted hereunder:

“4. Eligibility Criteria: No person shall be allowed to appear in the screening test unless:

(1) No person shall be allowed to appear in the screening test unless:

he/she is a Citizen of India or has been granted Overseas Citizenship of India and possess any primary medical qualification, which is confirmed by the Indian Embassy concerned, to be a recognized qualification for enrolment as medical practitioner in the country in which the institution awarding the said qualification is situated.”

3. The petitioners have also sought quashing of Clause 2.14 of the Information Bulletin issued by the respondent No.2 for conducting Screening Test known as Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (hereinafter referred to as „FMGE‟) which requires that the foreign medical degree held by a person appearing in the Screening Test should be attested either by the Embassy of India or should be apostilled by the appropriate authority of the foreign country concerned. The impugned clause 2.14 of the Information Bulletin is extracted herein below:

“The foreign medical degrees should be attested either by the Embassy of India or should be Apostilled by the appropriate authority of the foreign country concerned. Kindly note that the apostilled/attestation is to be in accordance with the requirements of Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 abolishing the requirement of legalisation for Foreign Public Document (Apostille Convention). For details regarding Apostilled documents, candidates may refer to the website of Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India. Unattested certificates / Certificates attested after the last date prescribed for submission of documents (i.e. 30th December 2024) shall not be considered for the purpose of eligibility for FMGE December

2024.”

4. Challenge has also been made to the communication/letter dated 14.05.2025 issued