Delhi HC notice on plea by medical students enrolled in China

The Delhi High Court on Thursday sought the National Medical Council's (NMC) response on a plea filed by a group of Indian medical students studying in a Chinese university seeking judicial intervention to help them to pursue their practice in India as they are stuck due to non-availability of visas from Chinese authorities.

The group of about 150 students from China's Ningbo University stated that they returned to India in early 2020 and thereafter, have been stuck here due to the non-availability of visas from the Chinese authorities.

The division bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh sought response of the Centre through the Ministries of Law and Justice, External Affairs, Health and Family Welfare, and the NMC, and posted the matter for next hearing on March 21.

While issuing notice in the matter, the court asked the respondents to consider the issue sympathetically as the petitioners are just praying for the arrangement of their study.

During the course of the hearing, counsel, appearing on behalf of the students, argued that the careers of about 18,000 students are at stake as they are stranded in India due to the pending restrictions imposed by the Chinese government.

They also stated that they are not even allowed to get a transfer from their present medical university in China to any other medical university abroad apart from China in view of the 2021 regulations.

In the present extra-ordinary circumstances, they are neither being allowed to attain physical training in India by the NMC nor any clarifications being provided by the authorities regarding the approval to the online theory classes attended by them from their medical University situated in China, the plea contended.

The petitioners sought direction from the NMC to recognise online classes by their universities situated in China and the Ministry of External Affairs to meet the Chinese authorities concerned and address and resolve the concerns of the petitioners.