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Mumbai: Doctor pursuing diploma seeks HC intervention for degree certificate

Mumbai: The Bombay high court (HC) has directed a petitioner doctor to amend his plea and add a request to be included in a 2018 notification issued by Maharashtra government that had changed the status of two-year diploma courses for post-graduate (PG) medical students to a three-year degree course.

All diploma courses were changed to three-year degree courses in June 2018, a month after the petitioner took the admission for it.

Though the petitioner completed the two-year diploma course in March, he has been asked to persist with it because of the ongoing coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak.

He submitted before the court that he should get a P-G degree because he has to continue the course for another nine months.

A two-member HC division bench, comprising Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Milind Jadhav, while hearing a petition of Dr. Shashikant Morale was informed by advocate Vijay Thorat about the disadvantage suffered by his client because of the state government notification.

He pleaded that his client was denied the degree benefit as the state government notification could not be applied retrospectively.

The petitioner moved HC seeking direction to the Medical Council of India (MCI) to extend the benefit of the change in status.

Thorat cited that Dr. Morale had completed three months in excess of the two-year of the diploma course and was willing to serve another nine months.

The advocate said his client should get a degree certificate instead of a diploma upon completion of three years of the PG course.

Thorat also submitted that the state government notification was discriminatory and was in violation of Article 14 of the Constitution and it should be struck down.

The court will hear the petition next on August 20.

Source: HindustanTimes