Delhi HC Rejects Foreign Medical Graduate’s October FMGE Bid, Citing No Qualifying NEET Scorecard Or Eligibility Certificate for Her 2019 Course

In brief

The question

1. Whether the petitioner was entitled to an Eligibility Certificate after completing her foreign medical course, despite not obtaining it before joining the course.

The court held

The Court held that the petitioner had not established eligibility to appear in the FMGE October 2026 session and that no ground for relief under Article 226 of the Constitution was made out.

It also directed

The petition was dismissed, and the pending applications were disposed of.

01Facts

The petitioner passed her senior secondary examination in 2019 and stated that she joined a medical course at Rostov State Medical University, Russia, that year.

p. 1

She obtained her medical degree on 30 June 2026 and applied to the National Medical Commission (NMC) for an Eligibility Certificate on 23 September 2026.

pp. 1–2

Her application to sit the FMGE October 2026 session was found deficient for want of that certificate.

pp. 1–2

She sought a direction requiring the NMC to issue it.

pp. 1–2

The respondents opposed relief, submitting that she had neither obtained an Eligibility Certificate before commencing the course nor produced a qualifying NEET-UG scorecard.

pp. 2–3

02Issues

i.1. Whether the petitioner was entitled to an Eligibility Certificate after completing her foreign medical course, despite not obtaining it before joining the course.

pp. 2–5

ii.2. Whether, for a candidate intending to obtain a foreign primary medical qualification on or after May 2018, qualifying NEET-UG was a mandatory condition for eligibility to sit the FMGE.

pp. 5–7

03Law Applied

Section 13(4B) of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 provided that an Indian citizen could not obtain a foreign medical qualification without first obtaining an Eligibility Certificate and, if the qualification was obtained without one, would be ineligible to sit the screening test.

p. 4

Regulation 4(2A) of the Screening Test Regulations, 2002 and Regulation 8(iv) of the Foreign Medical Institution Regulations, 2002, as amended with effect from May 2018, required Indian citizens and OCI candidates intending to obtain a primary medical qualification abroad to qualify NEET-UG; the NEET result would be treated as the Eligibility Certificate, subject to the applicable MBBS eligibility criteria.

pp. 5–6

The Court relied on Hemica Rani Singh v. National Medical Commission, which held that an Eligibility Certificate must be obtained before joining the foreign medical course and cannot be sought after obtaining the primary medical qualification.

p. 5

It also relied on Arunaditya Dubey v. Medical Council of India, W.P. (C) No. 1205/2019 (Supreme Court, 4 February 2025), which upheld the validity of the amended regulations and rejected a request for exemption.

p. 6

Provisions in the judgment · 2

Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 Section 13Section 33

04Reasoning

The petitioner claimed to have joined the foreign course in 2019, after the May 2018 amendments came into force.

p. 7

She was therefore required to qualify NEET-UG, whose result would serve as her Eligibility Certificate.

p. 7

The record contained neither a qualifying NEET-UG scorecard nor an Eligibility Certificate.

p. 8

Applying the statutory and regulatory requirements, and the cited authorities on the timing and necessity of the certificate, the Court found her ineligible to sit the October 2026 FMGE.

pp. 5, 7–8

05Holding

The Court held that the petitioner had not established eligibility to appear in the FMGE October 2026 session and that no ground for relief under Article 226 of the Constitution was made out.

p. 8

The petition was dismissed, and the pending applications were disposed of.

p. 8

LawLens.Delhi High Court

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