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19. Inasmuch as case of the petitioner's case stands adequately distilled in the writ petition, I deemed it appropriate to call, in the first instance, upon Mr. Singhdev to justify the impugned decision dated 27 November 2021.
Initial submissions of Mr. Singhdev
20. Mr. Singhdev took me to the Regulations of Graduate Medical Education 1997 ("the GME Regulations") issued by the MCI in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 33 of the IMC Act, as amended up to May 2018. Adverting to Regulation 4 of the GME Regulation, Mr. Singhdev submits that, for a candidate who has cleared her, or his, Class XII examination in India, to obtain admission to an MBBS course, in India, she, or he, has to qualify the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), for which purpose, the candidate has to satisfy the requirements envisaged in sub-regulations (1)3 and (2) of Regulation 4. Regulation 4(2) specifies various categories of qualifying examinations, the passing of which would entitle a candidate to undertake the NEET for admission to an MBBS course. Mr. Singhdev draws particular attention to sub clauses (a) and

23. Juxtaposing this understanding of the expression "qualifying examinations" into Regulation 3 of the Eligibility Regulations and applying it to the facts of the present case, Mr. T. Singhdev submits that, as the petitioner is an Indian citizen, she, before she joined the MD course with the DMSFI, was required to have passed one of the examinations envisaged in Regulation 4(4) of the GME Regulations or an equivalent examination from abroad. As she has done neither, Mr. T. Singhdev would submit that she was not eligible for admission to the MD course in Philippines at the time when she obtained such admission. In that view of the matter, he submits that the petitioner cannot claim a right to be issued an Eligibility Certificate for undertaking the FMGE to practice as a medical professional in India on the basis of the MD degree obtained by her from the DMSFI Philippines.

28. Mr. Naagar further submits that the petitioner is willing to undergo the one year internship as required by the Public Notices dated 25 March 2022 and 22 November 2023 issued by the NMC after undertaking the FMGE, before being entitled to practice as a medical professional.

Mr. Singhdev's submissions in reply

29. Responding to Mr. Naagar's reliance on Regulation 4(2)(c) of the GME Regulations, Mr. T. Singhdev seeks to juxtapose the said sub-regulation with Regulation 4(2)(a). He submits that an examination, in order to qualify as a "pre-medical examination", for the purposes of Regulation 4(2)(c), has to be undertaken "after passing either the higher secondary school examination, or the pre-university, or an equivalent examination". The BS examination undertaken by the petitioner could not qualify as a pre-medical examination for the purposes of Regulation 4(2)(c), as it was not undertaken after passing a higher secondary school examination or any equivalent examination. For this purpose, Mr. Singhdev relies on Regulation 4(2)(a), which refers to a "higher secondary examination.....which is equivalent to 10 +2 higher secondary examination, after a period of 12 years study". The secondary school examination cleared by the petitioner in 2010- 2011, having not been preceded by 12 years' study, and not having been declared as equivalent to the 10+2 higher secondary examination, he submits, that the BS course cannot qualify as a pre- medical examination for the purposes of Regulation 4(2)(c).

33. Mr. Singhdev submits that Clause 4 of the Public Notice dated 25 March 2022 recognises that BS is a pre-medical examination only in Philippines. It cannot, therefore, be regarded as a "pre-medical course" for the purposes of Regulation 4(2)(c) of the GME regulation.

34. Mr. Singhdev has also places reliance on Section 6 of the Medical Act 1959 of Philippines, which reads thus: