CPS Mumbai Derecognition: AG promises Supreme Court a solution for affected students
Supreme Court of India
New Delhi: During the hearing of the matter concerning the College of Physicians and Surgeons, CPS Mumbai, the Attorney General for India recently informed the Supreme Court that a viable solution would be arrived at to secure the future of the students after the Bombay High Court recently upheld the derecognition of all postgraduate medical courses offered by CPS Mumbai.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that, taking note of the issue, the Supreme Court on September 12 requested the intervention of the Attorney General for India to arrive at a viable solution in this regard.
Now, the AG R Venkataramani has informed the Apex Court bench, comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan, that some progress has been made in registering the students so that they can take their examinations. He informed the bench that 921 students have been identified who are awaiting the conduct of the examination.
However, the Senior Advocate Vikas Singh pointed out that 932 students are only those who are concerned with the National Medical Commission. He further informed the bench that there are students who are registered with the State Medical Commission, but they have not been identified. In this regard, the AG responded that he would try to find the best modality to identify such students whose future is in limbo.
As per the latest media report by Live Law, considering the positive development in the matter, the Court granted four weeks to the AG and passed an order that mentioned, "Today, when the matter was taken up for hearing, the learned Attorney General pointed out that there has been some progress in the matter. According to the learned Attorney, they have been able to identify approximately 932 students registered with the College of Physician and Surgery. However, at this stage senior counsel Vikas Singh pointed out that 932 students are only those students who are concerned with the National Medical Commission. However, the students who have been concerned with the State Medical Commission have not been registered. In this regard also, the learned Attorney General submitted that the issue will be looked into. We request the Attorney to bring some arrangements by which the future of all these students are secured."
The Postgraduate Medical Education Board (PGMEB) of the National Medical Commission (NMC) derecognised all the courses offered by CPS on August 16, 2024, on the grounds of failure to comply with the regulatory mechanism under the National Medical Commission Act, 2019. The show-cause notice stated that the CPS, Mumbai considers itself an examination-like body National Board of Examination in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) having authority to give medical qualification. However, it pointed out that while National Board is a government organisation under the NMC Act, CPS is a non-government organisation having no authority to permit or recognise any course of qualification run by any hospital or to conduct examination or award degree.
Earlier this year, the Bombay High Court dismissed the 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 High Court 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.
In the order, the HC bench had also mentioned that the decision taken by the NMC Postgraduate Medical Education Board (PGMEB) 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".
However, the bench had mentioned that if CPS were compliant with regulatory norms for maintaining standards in medical education, on ensuring compliance with permission sought under NMC Act, 2019, it may be able to start the courses, in the prescribed manner.
Also Read: Supreme Court Likely to Hear CPS Derecognition Issue on August 29
