Dismissed

Dental Surgeon Medical Teacher Association v. Union of India

Rajasthan HC11 Jan 2022CW/9709/2021

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Petitioners challenged the Medical Council of India Regulations 1998 for excluding BDS holders from Assistant Professor posts as illegal. The court held that this is a specialized field where courts normally do not interfere with expert bodies. The petition was dismissed.

What did the court decide?

The writ petition challenging the Medical Council of India Regulations 1998 was dismissed as there was no reason to entertain it.

Dental Surgeon Medical Teacher Association Vs… — Education and Admissions | Rajasthan HC (2022)

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HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN AT JODHPUR

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D.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 9709/2021

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Dental Surgeon Medical Teacher Association, Through Its Treasurer Namely Dr. Mukesh Fulwaria S/o Shri Bhanwar Lal, Aged About 37 Years, C/o Keshu Ram Jheliya, Jatiyon Ka Purana Bas, Ward No. 12, Barmer, Rajasthan, At Present Working On The Post Of Senior Demonstrator At Barmer Medical College, Barmer, Rajasthan.

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----Petitioner

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Versus

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Union Of India, Through The Secretary, Ministry Of Health And Family Welfare, Government Of India, New Delhi.

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National Medical Commission, Through Its Chairman, National Medical Commission Pocket-14, Sector-8, Dwarka Phase-1, New Delhi, India.

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Chairman, National Medical Commission, Pocket-14, Sector - 8, Dwarka Phase-1, New Delhi, India.

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State Of Rajasthan, Through The Secretary, Department Of Medical Education, Government Of Rajasthan, Secretariat, Jaipur, Rajasthan.

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Directorate Of Medical Education, Through The Director, Chikitsha Siksha Bhawan Govind Marg, Aadarsh Nagar, Near Pink Square Mall, Jaipur, Rajasthan.

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Director, Rajasthan Medical Education Society Jaipur, Chikitsha Siksha Bhawan Govind Marg, Aadarsh Nagar, Near Pink Square Mall, Jaipur, Rajasthan.

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----Respondents

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For Petitioner(s) : Dr. Nupur Bhati through V.C.

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HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MR. AKIL KURESHI HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE REKHA BORANA

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Order

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11/01/2022

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The petitioner is a Dental Surgeons’ Medical Teacher’s Association. The association has challenged the portion of the

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(2 of 4)

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[CW-9709/2021]

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Medical Council of India Minimum Qualification for Teachers in Medical Institutions Regulations, 1998 (hereinafter referred to be referred as the ‘Regulations of 1998’), in so far as said regulations exclude the qualification of degree in Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) as one of the requisite academic qualifications for the purpose of appointment to the post of Assistant Professors and higher teaching posts.

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Brief facts of the case are that the members of the petitioner association hold the degree of BDS. They have also pursued masters degree in different sub-branches. These members are holding the post of tutors in Government Medical Colleges. Next promotion from the post of tutor’s cadre is to the post of Assistant Professor. However, for the purpose of such promotion also, the regulations prescribe certain minimum educational qualifications, which the members of petitioner association do not possess. They have, therefore, challenged the regulation in question.

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Learned counsel for the petitioner took us through statutory regulations framed by the Medical Council of India and other documents on record and pointed out that the said regulations have prescribed minimum educational qualifications for various teaching posts such as Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Professor in different branches such as Anatomy, Physiology etc. It was pointed out that for holding the post of Assistant Professor, the candidate must have any of the qualifications, namely, M.D. (Physiology) MBBS with M.Sc. (Physiology)/M.Sc. (Physiology)/M.Sc. (Medical Physiology) with Ph.D. (Medical Physiology)/M.Sc.(Medical Physiology) with D.Sc. (Medical Physiology). Significantly these qualifications do not refer to the degree of BDS. As a result, the members of the petitioner

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(3 of 4)

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[CW-9709/2021]

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association who are holding the post of tutors and other equivalent posts in the cadre, are not eligible for promotion to the higher post of Assistant Professor. They also cannot seek direct recruitment to the said post since they are held ineligible.

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Learned counsel strenuously urged that this exclusion of BDS degree holders from consideration for promotion or direct recruitment to the post of Assistant Professor and higher teaching posts is wholly illegal and impermissible. Our attention was drawn to the definition of term ‘Medicine’ contained in Section 2(f) of Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 which provides that medicine means modern scientific medicine in all its branches and includes surgery and obstetrics, but does not include veterinary medicine and surgery. She also pointed out that even the Medical Council of India Regulations recognize dentistry as one of the branches of medicine. On the basis of such provisions, she contended that the degree of BDS was wrongly excluded from the list of eligibility criteria for being appointed on the post of Assistant Professor. She clarified that the members of petitioner association are not urging that the degree of BDS should be treated as equivalent to the degree of MBBS.

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To provide for reconstitution of Medical Council of India and maintenance of Medical Register of India, the Medical Council of India Act, 1956 has been enacted. The Medical Council of India is constituted under Section 3 of the said Act and is entrusted with the tasks of recognition of medical qualifications granted by the universities or medical institutions in India, to grant permission for establishment of new medical colleges and new courses of studies etc. Section 33 of the Act gives power to the council to frame regulations. It is in exercise of such powers the Regulations of

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(4 of 4)

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[CW-9709/2021]

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1998 have been framed. Regulation 3 provides that minimum qualification for appointment of tutors in various departments of medical college or institution imparting graduate and postgraduate education shall be specified in Schedule 1 and 2 annexed with the regulations. The regulation being referred to for holding the post of Assistant Professor and higher teaching posts are contained in Schedule-1.

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It can thus be seen that an expert body constituted under a statute is entrusted for task of deciding minimum educational qualifications in medical field. The Courts do not normally interfere with the decisions of such expert bodies in highly specialized fields such as education and science. In the present case, the Medical Council of India, which is duly aided and assisted by the experts in the field, has framed the regulations recognizing certain educational qualifications as minimum required for the purpose of holding the post of Assistant Professor. Whether the degree of BDS should also form part of such eligibility criteria, is not a subject matter in which the Court in exercise of judicial review in writ jurisdiction would ordinarily enter. Unless such decision is shown to be mala fide or wholly arbitrary, the Court would not over-rule such decision of the expert body.

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We do not find any reason to entertain this petition. The petition is dismissed accordingly.

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(AKIL KURESHI),CJ

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REKHA BORANA),J

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7-a.asopa/-

Dental Surgeon Medical Teacher Association v. Union of India

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Dental Surgeon Medical Teacher Association v. Union of India

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

What the court decided

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