On Tuesday, the Supreme Court's division bench sought the Centre's position on a batch of petitions filed by students who were unable to complete clinical training in China due to COVID-19 travel restrictions and, as a result, sought to be accommodated within the Indian medical education architecture as an extraordinary, humanitarian measure.

Senior Advocate S. Nagamuthu informed Justices B.R. Gavai and Vikram Nath that, despite a Bench led by Justice Hemant Gupta allowing repatriated Indian students from the batch 2015-20 to undergo clinical training in India and become provisionally registered, the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu had refused to extend similar relief to students from the batch 2016-21 who were subject to the same travel restrictions."This court has held that the order passed in the other batch would also be applicable to our case. Therefore, the students who joined the medical course in China in 2016 should be given the same benefits. Several state medical councils have complied. Only Kerala and Tamil Nadu have refused. This is when we are covered by two judgements of this court."

Previously, while hearing an appeal against a Madras High Court order allowing such a student to be provisionally registered, a Division Bench of the Supreme Court directed the National Medical Commission to structure a scheme to enable students of the batch 2015-20 who were not able to endure clinical training to complete it in medical colleges identified by the council.

Case Title : Abin Philip George and others versus National Medical Commission

Citation:  WP(c) 1038/2022