Only doctors can Appeal against action taken by State Medical Councils: NMC

Although the NMC Act 2019 has limited the scope of appeal for the families of the patients, earlier the Medical Council of India (MCI), which has now been replaced by the NMC had given the power of appeal to those people as well who are not from the medical community.

Acting on the Supreme Court's directive in 2004, the erstwhile MCI had introduced the amendments in its Code of Ethics Regulations, 2002.

One such amendment was included in Clause 8.8 of the Code of Ethics Regulations. It read, "8.8 Any person aggrieved by the decision of the State Medical Council on any complaint against a delinquent physician, shall have the right to file an appeal to the MCI within a period of 60 days from the date of receipt of the order passed by the said Medical Council:

Provided that the MCI may, if it is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from presenting the appeal within the aforesaid period of 60 days, allow it to be presented within a further period of 60 days."

However, after NMC took over the MCI, the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, also replaced the Indian Medical Council Act. The new NMC Act limited the scope of appeal before the Ethics and Medical Registration Board and restricted it for the members of the medical fraternity only.

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