Supreme Court Likely to Hear CPS Derecognition Issue on August 29
Supreme Court of India
New Delhi: The Supreme Court is likely to hear the matter concerning the derecognition of the College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPS) courses next Friday.
On August 18, during the hearing of the case, the Apex Court bench comprising Justices J.B.Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan issued fresh notice in the matter.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons filed the plea before the Supreme Court, challenging the Bombay High Court order that upheld the derecognition of many postgraduate diploma courses.
Medical Dialogues had previously reported that 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.
Also Read: CPS Controversy in Parliament: Health Ministry answers on Recognition disparity
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.
Background:
Medical Dialogues has been reporting about the controversies concerning more than 100-year-old CPS Mumbai, which is an autonomous body that imparts Postgraduate medical education and offers fellowship, diploma, and certificate courses for medical professionals.
The controversy started when 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. Meanwhile, filing a PIL, Dr. Pingle, a former member of MMC, challenged the validity of section 28(2) of the MMC Act, which empowers the council to recognise the courses that don't form a part of the NMC Act.
Earlier this year, the HC bench dismissed the plea by CPS and allowed Dr. Pingle's plea. However, it left the issue of challenging the validity of section 28(2) of the MMC Act open to be assailed in other appropriate proceedings.
The CPS controversy was also raised before the Parliament earlier this year. When asked about the disparity in the recognition of the postgraduate medical qualifications offered by the College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPS) across different States/UTs, the Union Minister of State for Health, Smt. Anupriya Patel informed the Parliament that any University or medical institute granting a UG, PG, or Super Speciality medical qualification not included in the NMC list may apply to the National Medical Commission (NMC) before the commencement of the course.
The Minister further acknowledged the disparity in the recognition of CPS courses depending on the States/UTs and pointed out that some states recognized qualifications of CPS based on the statutory provisions of the concerned State legislation.
CPS Moves Supreme Court:
Challenging the HC order, CPS filed a plea before the Supreme Court. Back in July, during the hearing of the case, the Apex Court had issued notice in the matter and directed the National Medical Commission to file an exhaustive reply by the next date of hearing.
The matter is likely to be listed before the top court bench for a hearing on August 29, 2025.
To view the order, click on the link below:
https://medicaldialogues.in/pdf_upload/supreme-court-cps-derecognition-298827.pdf
