HC Bars CPS Admissions for 2024-2025 academic year
Bombay High Court
Mumbai: Following the Bombay High Court's orders, the College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPS), Mumbai, will not be permitted to admit students for the academic year 2024-2025.
While upholding the derecognition of several CPS postgraduate diploma courses by the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC), the Bombay High Court bench also refused the CPS's request to admit students for the academic year 2024-2025, the fRee Press Journal has reported.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the Bombay High Court dismissed a plea filed by the College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPS) challenging the derecognition of many postgraduate diploma courses that were deleted from the schedule of the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC), 1965.
On the same day, the HC bench had allowed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging permission given to CPS to conduct 10 additional PG courses. The PIL was filed before the High Court by a Mumbai-based doctor, Suhas Pingle.
Also Read: HC upholds derecognition of CPS Diploma courses
As per the latest media report by the Free Press Journal, the High Court bench, comprising Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande, also refused CPS's request to admit students for the 2024-2025 academic year.
In its recent order, the Bombay High Court bench had observed that the NMC PG Board's decision taken in its July and August 2024 meetings also warranted no interference since it was founded in the Maintenance of Standards of Medical Education Regulations (MSMER-2023) to ensure higher standards of medical education across the country.
The Court had observed that if the CPS was compliant with the regulatory norms for maintaining standards in medical education, it may be able to start the courses on ensuring compliance with permission sought under the NMC (National Medical Commission) Act 2019.
The CPS Controversy:
Despite being more than a 100-year-old institute, CPS Mumbai has been facing controversies for a long time. CPS Mumbai is an autonomous body that imparts Postgraduate medical education and offers fellowship, diploma, and certificate courses for medical professionals. For the Diploma courses, the tenure is two years; in case of Fellowship, the tenure is three years. After obtaining the qualification granted by CPS Mumbai, the practitioners are allowed to register themselves as specialists in the concerned speciality.
However, citing significant gaps in the standards or institutes offering CPS courses, the Medical Education Department of Maharashtra previously wrote to the Union Health Ministry asking for its opinion on whether counselling could be conducted for around 1,100 CPS seats.
Back then, writing to the Centre, the department had referred to the inspection of the Maharashtra Medical Council and how during the inspection, MMC had found "severe deficiencies" in several institutes. Consequently, the Central Government had set up an eight-member committee to look into the matter.
The controversy continued further and then the Postgraduate Medical Education Board (PGMEB) of NMC recommended to the Union Health Ministry to withdraw the popular DPB- Diploma in Pathology and Bacteriology, DCH - Diploma in Child Health and DGO- Diploma Gynecology and Obstetrics courses run by CPS from the next academic year.
After NMC, the National Board of Examinations (NBE) also offered rejection to the CPS courses by refusing to bring them under the aegis of the NBE. Moreover, States including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Karnataka were reportedly considering decreasing the intake for the CPS courses or discontinuing them.
Back in 2023, the Maharashtra Government de-recognised the courses offered by CPS and asked the medical institutes and hospitals not to admit students for any of the 26 diplomas or fellowships offered by CPS, Mumbai.
Ultimately, the matter reached the High Court. Filing a plea, the CPS sought permission from the HC to admit students in the 2024-2025 academic year.
