Issue NORI certificate to Doctor researcher: High Court tells Ministry of Health

In the month of August 2015, the government came out with a decision of not giving the 'No objection' certificate to doctors migrating abroad for further studies. The justification of the same came as there is a large issue of vacant posts to be tackled back at home and in such circumstances, " Brain Drain" of medical practitioners to foreign countries needs to be avoided. Hence the decision came, with the government deciding not to issue No Obligation to Return to India certificate to migrating doctors.

Read more at Medical Dialogues: Government not to issue 'No objection' certificate for migrating doctors 

The policy became life changing for one Dr Sunil Moothi, who while being an MBBS doctor, had been working in the US as a research Scientist for little less than three years, and had been forced to return to India following the policy. Given the nature of his work in the US, his return of India brought him to a state of Joblessness.

The doctor soon knocked the doors of the Bombay High court, challenging the decision of the central government. His lawyers clearly pointed out in the court, that though being an Indian medical graduate, Noothi is not practicing medicine in US, rather is engaged in research. A Bio medical Researcher at the University of Kentucky, he had been associated as a post doctoral scholar with its department of Microbiology, Immunology and molecular genetics since 2013. He had also been funded over $1.5 million on his project to find cure for blood cancer.

The Bombay High court, Aurangabad Bench responding to his plea, observed

It is clear that though the petitioner has obtained degree of M.B.B.S. and has got himself registered as a practitioner under the Karnataka Medical Registration Act, 1961, he actually neither practised as a Doctor/Medical Practitioner, nor intends to practise as such. If that be so, the policy decision taken by respondent no. 1(b) of not issuing NORI certificate to any Doctor for the purpose of stemming brain drain of Doctors and to cope up with the acute shortage of Doctors in India, cannot be made applicable to the petitioner. It is obvious that even if he resides in India, he is not going to render his services to the citizens of India as a Doctor because of his inclination in research work. It may be stated that research work requires special aptitude, intelligence, dedication, perseverance and deep concentration.