FMGE screening test assesses knowledge of candidate acquired throughout MBBS course: Bombay High Court refuses to stay exam

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday refused to stay the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) screening test scheduled to be held on June 18, 2021, observing that the examination assesses the knowledge of the student acquired throughout the MBBS course..The observation came on a petition filed by the All India Medical Students Welfare Forum through the General secretary Swami Elanjelian, seeking directions to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), National Medical Commission (NMC) and National Board of Examination (NBE) to earmark syllabus of final year MBBS as the syllabus for the upcoming FMGE screening test.The petitioner prayed that the level of questions for the exam be kept at par with final year MBBS and not the level of post graduate entrance examination. NBE placed on record copy of Minutes of Meeting held on June 30, 2004 which was referred to in decision of Sanjeev Gupta & Ors vs Union Of India & Anr in which the Supreme Court had ruled that any screening test has to be held as per the guidelines laid out in the meeting.It added that the syllabus for the screening test did not include the syllabus of post graduate level..Referring to the minutes, Bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and CV Bhadang made a prima facie observation that "the test was conducted to find out whether the students have acquired the knowledge of earlier years in MBBS course to pass the final year examination of the course".The minutes do not indicate that students are required to have knowledge only about the final year syllabus of MBBS and not of the years before, the Court added.The Court also took into account the decision of the Delhi High Court dismissing a plea seeking to postpone the FMGE screening test on account of COVID-19..In the petition filed through RS Mane & Associates, the petitioner sought directions to earmark the syllabus of final year MBBS as the syllabus for the FMGE screening test. The petitioner also sought stay on the screening test to be held on June 18, 2021 if NBE was "not in a position to prescribe the syllabus for screening test". The petitioner further asked the Court to issue directions to publish names of the text books and reference books with the names of the authors and to provide study material for the foreign return doctors. "The level of questions asked in FMGE were so tough that the passing percentage of FMGE is the lowest in the country due to prescribing the entire MBBS syllabus," the petition stated.Referring to the subject wise distribution of marks in the question paper in comparison to the syllabus for the screening test, advocate Ashok Shetty for the petitioner, tried to point out that what the students were dealing with was irregularity."About 1,40,000 doctors who are holding MBBS, MS, MD degrees awarded by foreign universities have been deprived of their license to practice medicine in these trying times as they were unable to clear the screening test," Shetty argued..The respondents sought time to file reply to the petition. They also opposed the interim relief claiming there was no illegality in the screening test.Shetty argued that if the Court intends to grant time to respondents to file reply, then the Court should pass directions to defer the examination as it would not be in consonance with minutes..Considering the fact that a large number of students were attending the examination the Court refused to stay the examination and posted the matter for final hearing after directing the respondents to file their replies.[Read petition]