Calcutta High Court (Appellete Side)
Ms. Suparna Maity vs Indian Nursing Council & Ors on 23 July, 2019
Author: Tapabrata Chakraborty
Bench: Tapabrata Chakraborty
1
23.07.2019
Item No.1
ad
W.P No. 22644(W) of 2018
Ms. Suparna Maity
- Versus -
Indian Nursing Council & Ors.
Mr. Chittapriya Ghosh,
Ms. Priyanka Saha
... For the petitioner
Mr. Nilotpal Chatterjee
...For the respondent nos.1 to 4
The present writ petition has been preferred primarily praying for the following relief:
"A writ of or in the nature of Mandamus do issue commanding the respondents, their agents and servants specifically the respondent no.2 to 4 to rescind, cancel, withdraw the Impugned communication being No.3034/73A/NC dated 27.09.2018 issued by the respondent No.4 forthwith."
Mr. Ghosh, learned advocate appearing for the petitioner submits that the petitioner passed the Higher Secondary Examination conducted by the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education in the year 2013 with more than 47% marks in aggregate and upon emerging to be successful in an admission process, she got admission in the nursing course under the KIIT University, Bhubaneswar in the year 2013. She duly passed the Part-I, Part-II, Part-III and Part-IV Examination and obtained the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree certificate in the year 2017. Thereafter, she got herself registered in the Odisha Nurses & Midwives Council (in short, the Odisha Council) as would be explicit 2 from the certificate of registration issued by the Odisha Council. Thereafter, she returned to the State of West Bengal and applied for reciprocal registration under the West Bengal Nursing Council (in short, West Bengal Council). Such reciprocal registration was denied by an order dated 27th September, 2018 passed by the respondent no.4.
According to Mr. Ghosh, the petitioner's reciprocal registration has been rejected on a ground that she had failed to score the pass mark in the theory part of Physics. The alleged failure to score the pass mark in the theory part of Physics cannot be a ground towards denial of reciprocal registration. In support of such contention reliance has been placed upon a judgment delivered by the Hon'ble Division Bench of this Court in MAT 596 of 2017 (Sonali Nandi vs. The West Bengal Nursing Council & Ors.).
In the impugned order it has also been observed that for registration a candidate must ensure the pass mark in Physics, Chemistry, Biology & English(PCBE) with an aggregate of 45% (for general candidates) and 40% for the SC/ST/OBC candidates. The said requirement, according to Mr. Ghosh, does not feature in the eligibility criteria towards nursing programs set by the Indian Nursing Council.
Per contra Mr. Chatterjee, learned advocate appearing for the respondent nos.1 to 4 submits that reciprocal registration was rightly rejected by the said West Bengal Council since the petitioner did not obtain pass mark individually in theory and practical papers in the subject of Physics and since her aggregate in the Higher Secondary examination was less than 40%. In support of such 3 contention he placed reliance upon a memo dated 21st September, 2015 issued by the respondent no.1 pertaining to a subject 'Admission Eligibility criteria for B.Sc. Nursing-reg'. In the same it has been stated that 'a candidate should have passed in the subjects of PCB and English individually and must have obtained a minimum of 45% marks taken together in PCB at the qualifying examination i.e., (10+2). Furthermore, the candidates belonging to SC/ST or other backward classes, the marks obtained in PCB taken together in qualifying examination be 40% instead of 45% as stated above. English is a compulsory subject in 10+2 for being eligible for admission to B.Sc.(N)'.
He contends that at the time of initial admission in B.Sc. course, the petitioner did not fulfil the eligibility criteria and since her initial entry in the said course was illegal, she is not entitled to reciprocal registration under the West Bengal Council. Affidavit-in-opposition filed by the respondent nos.2 to 4 be kept on record.
In reply Mr. Ghosh submits that when the petitioner fulfils the eligibility criteria as revised and prescribed by the Indian Nursing Council from the academic year 2012-13, the respondents cannot deny her reciprocal registration upon rewriting the eligibility criteria. Reciprocity is a situation in which two parties provide the same help or advantages to each other and in such a situation the West Bengal Council cannot question the petitioner's initial registration under the Odisha Council.
The issue as to whether a candidate is required to secure pass mark individually in theoretical and practical papers in subjects where there are 4 theoretical and practical papers is no longer res integra. The said issue has been detailed and discussed in the judgment delivered in the case of Sonali Nandi (supra) and there is a specific finding that in the event the candidate obtains pass marks in the concerned subject as a whole he/she becomes entitled to registration. A perusal of the impugned order would reveal that the petitioner's claim for reciprocal registration was denied on the sole ground that she has failed to score the pass mark in the theory part of Physics. Such ground of rejection is not sustainable in view of the judgment delivered in the case of Sonali Nandi (supra).
The argument of Mr. Chatterjee that as the petitioner did not obtain 45% marks in aggregate taking into consideration the PCB subjects and English is also not acceptable. The eligibility criteria for registration as laid down by the Indian Nursing Council is required to be followed. In the document annexed at page 29 of the writ petition the eligibility criteria for B.Sc. Nursing has been set by the Indian Nursing Council. The said minimum eligibility criteria runs as follows:
"10+2 class passed with Science (PCB) & English Core/English Elective with aggregate of 45% marks from recognized board under AISSCE/CBSE/ICSE/SSCE/HSCE or other equivalent Board."
Indisputably, the petitioner has obtained 47% marks in aggregate in the Higher Secondary examination taking into consideration the compulsory language subjects and the compulsory elective subjects. The procedure towards such calculation of aggregate has been detailed in the document annexed at page 8 of the affidavit-in-opposition. The petitioner obtained a total of 238 marks in 5 5 subjects and her aggregate is more than 47% and she fulfills the eligibility criteria for B.Sc. Nursing as set by the Indian Nursing Council.
For the reasons discussed above, the order dated 27th September, 2018 passed by the respondent no.4 is set aside and the respondent nos. 2 to 4 are directed to grant reciprocal registration to the petitioner, as applied for, subject to payment of the prescribed fees, if not paid already.
The above exercise shall be completed by the said respondents within a period of two weeks from the date of communication of this order.
With the above observations and directions, the writ petition is dispose of. There shall, however, be no order as to costs.
Urgent photostat certified copy of this order be supplied to the parties on compliance of all formalities.
(Tapabrata Chakraborty, J.)