Delhi High Court Backs NMC: Fragmented Foreign Medical Degrees Not Enough for FMGE Eligibility
The Delhi High Court has upheld the National Medical Commission (NMC)'s decision to bar Indian students who completed their medical education across multiple foreign institutions from appearing in the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE), observing
The Delhi High Court has upheld the National Medical Commission (NMC)’s decision to bar Indian students who completed their medical education across multiple foreign institutions from appearing in the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE), observing that such qualifications could compromise the quality of medical professionals entering the country’s healthcare system.
Dismissing the students’ plea, a Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia held that medical education completed in a fragmented manner across two or three different foreign institutions could not automatically be treated as an eligible primary medical qualification.
Court Upholds NBEMS’s Earlier Decision
The September 3 judgment upheld the decision of the authorities, including the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) Examination Ethics Committee, which had declared the petitioners ineligible for the FMGE through a communication issued on May 14, 2025.
Court Flags Public Interest Concerns
Making significant observations on the standards expected from doctors seeking to practise in India, the court said that recognising a medical qualification based on fragmented studies at different foreign medical colleges would not be in the public interest.
The court observed that such an approach could result in a compromise in the quality of medical professionals in the country.
Background of the Case
The case was filed by Indian students who had pursued medical education at foreign institutions and later sought to appear for the FMGE – the mandatory screening examination for Indian citizens and Overseas Citizens of India holding foreign medical qualifications who wish to register and practise allopathic medicine in India.
The petitioners had initially studied at Micronesia Medical College before moving to other institutions, including Belize Medical University. They argued that their movement between institutions was caused by unavoidable circumstances, including the Covid-19 pandemic, civil unrest, the Russia-Ukraine war, and personal reasons.
