Case Note & Summary
The petitioner, a medical graduate holding MBBS degree, filed a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India before the Bombay High Court seeking a writ of certiorari to quash communications dated 9 June 2020 and 22 March 2021 by which the Union of India, through its departments, rejected her application for a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the purpose of obtaining a 'No Objection to Return to India Certificate' (NORI Certificate) from the Government of India. The petitioner was residing in the United States on a J-1 Research Scholar Visa and sought waiver of the Home Residence Requirement (HRR) imposed by United States immigration law. The dispute centered on whether a medical degree holder who had never practiced clinical medicine and was engaged solely in research could be denied NOC solely on the ground that the policy of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare did not permit NOC for NORI Certificate to medical professionals except those above 65 years of age. The facts leading to the petition showed that the petitioner enrolled in D.Y. Patil Medical College in 2011, completed MBBS with internship in 2017, and obtained registration under the Maharashtra Medical Councils Act. Her family's application for United States immigration had been approved in 2009, and she moved to the USA for research opportunities. From June 2017 to June 2019, she worked as an intern at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York without patient contact or clinical privileges. In August 2017 she obtained a J-1 Research Scholar Visa, which did not permit clinical practice. In May 2020, she applied for NOC for NORI Certificate, but respondent no.1(a) rejected her application on 19 May 2020 citing the policy of respondent no.1(b). Reviews were rejected on 28 July 2020. After filing and withdrawing an earlier writ petition, she filed the present petition on 31 October 2020. Interim orders included a direction on 17 December 2020 for respondent no.1(b) to examine her case in the context of being a research scholar, noting the Aurangabad Bench decision in Sunil Kiran Noothi v. Union of India. However, respondent no.1(b) by communication dated 22 March 2021 maintained that there was no distinction between a research scholar and a medical practitioner and rejected the request again. The core legal issues before the court were whether the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's policy of refusing NORI Certificate to medical professionals applied to a research scholar who held an MBBS degree but had never practiced medicine; whether a distinction existed between a medical practitioner and a research scholar for issuance of NOC; and whether the rejection without granting a hearing violated principles of natural justice. The petitioner argued that she had never practiced medicine, was willing to surrender her medical license, and that the United States Government treated her as a research scholar without clinical privileges. She relied on the Aurangabad Bench decision in Sunil Kiran Noothi v. Union of India, (2017) 2 BCR 642, which distinguished medical professionals from research scholars. The respondents contended that policy guidelines did not permit NOC for NORI Certificate to medical professionals except those above 65 years and that no distinction existed between research scholar and medical professional. The available judgment text concludes during the petitioner's submissions and does not include the final analysis or operative order of the court.
Issue of Consideration
Whether respondent no.1(b)'s policy of refusing NORI Certificate to medical professionals applies to a research scholar holding MBBS but not practicing medicine; Whether a distinction exists between a Research Scholar and a Medical Practitioner for issuance of NOC for NORI Certificate; Whether rejection without granting a hearing violates principles of natural justice
Law Points
- Writ jurisdiction under Article 226 of Constitution of India
- Writ of certiorari
- No Objection Certificate for NORI Certificate
- Distinction between research scholar and medical practitioner
- J-1 Research Scholar Visa vs J-1 Physician Visa
- Policy of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare regarding NORI Certificate for medical professionals
