Knowledge of biology or biological sciences a must for MBBS admission: Supreme Court

A candidate should have studied them at the 10+2 stage, the Court says.

February 20, 2021 09:20 pm | Updated February 21, 2021 02:21 pm IST - NEW DELHI

First year MBBS students attend classes at the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute in Bengaluru on December 1, 2020, on the first day of the reopening of the college after the lockdown.

First year MBBS students attend classes at the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute in Bengaluru on December 1, 2020, on the first day of the reopening of the college after the lockdown.

The Supreme Court has held in a judgment that prior knowledge of senior secondary level biology or biological sciences along with practical knowledge of the English language is at “the heart of eligibility” for MBBS admission.

A Bench of Justices L. Nageswara Rao and S. Ravindra Bhat declared the eligibility criterion based on an appeal filed by the Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences challenging a decision of the Telangana High Court.

The High Court had allowed a student’s contention that the institution illegally denied her admission to the MBBS course for the 2020-21 academic year on the ground that she did not produce records of her study in the required subjects.

Setting aside the High Court order, the apex court upheld that “MBBS primarily if not predominantly, involves prior knowledge — both theoretical and practical, of senior secondary level in biology or biological sciences”.

Justice Bhat, who wrote the recent judgment, referred to Regulation 4 of the Medical Council of India Regulations on Graduate Medical Education of 1997, which stipulates that the eligibility criteria for admission to MBBS course stipulated that a candidate should have “undergone study at the 10+2 stage, [or in the Intermediate course) in the specified subjects of physics, chemistry and biology/bBio-technology”.

“The substance of the eligibility requirement indeed is that the candidate should have qualified an Intermediate level examination or first year of a graduate course, and studied the subjects of physics, chemistry and biology at this level, along with practical testing in these subject areas, and the English language. This subject matter requirement is at the heart of eligibility to be admitted into the medical course,” the court said.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.