The Supreme Court on 13 May agreed to hear a petition challenging government notices requiring foreign medical graduates (FMGs) to complete extended internships in India due to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. A bench comprising Justices BR Gavai and Augustine George Masih issued a notice to the Centre and other authorities, seeking their responses within six weeks.
The petition, filed by the Association of Doctors and Medical Students, argues that FMGs affected by the pandemic or war who had returned to India but later completed their education abroad and already finished their internships should not be subjected to extra years of practical training in India.
Senior advocate PV Dinesh appeared on behalf of the petitioners, with the case filed through advocate Zulfiker Ali PS. The petition highlighted that many students completed their final year via online classes, supplemented by in-person clinical training once possible.
According to the plea, current regulations force students who returned during their final year to complete two years of internship, and those who left earlier to undergo three years, before they are eligible to practice in India. The FMGs have already cleared or are preparing for the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) required to practice in India.
The petition requests the National Medical Commission (NMC) to issue instructions to state medical councils to assess the specific gaps in clinical training and allow affected FMGs to fill these either through certifications from their foreign institutions or through compensatory training in Indian medical colleges.
The plea also referred to an earlier Supreme Court ruling from April 29, 2022, which had directed the NMC to create a scheme within two months to help FMGs, whose studies were disrupted by COVID-19 or the Ukraine war, complete their clinical training in India.
