The Delhi High Court has rejected an appeal contesting a Delhi Medical Council (DMC) notification requiring allopathic doctors to register with the council. The high court said that medical practitioners registered under the DMC Act provide the council jurisdiction to discipline them for professional or ethical wrongdoing in Delhi.
“The intent of making the medical practitioner amenable to the regulatory jurisdiction of the State Medical Council of State in which he/she practises is in public interest as it enables the concerned State Medical Council to hold accountable, the erring medical practitioners for their wrongful conduct and take disciplinary against them, in accordance with law,” a bench led by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Manmeet said.
The bench cited an instance where a non-DMC-registered doctor caused mischief and objected to the council’s authority, even though the treatment was given in Delhi.
In its public interest litigation, Dr. Namit Gupta sought to quash the December 24, 2023 DMC public notice requiring allopaths in Delhi to register with the DMC under the Delhi Medical Council Act. The high court found no merit in the suit.
The notice also required hospitals, nursing homes, polyclinics, charitable dispensaries, and diagnostic centers to verify doctors’ DMC registration before using their services and renew it every five years in accordance with the DMC Act.
The DMC lawyer said that the notice was intended to discourage professional misconduct by Delhi doctors.
NMC Advocates T Singhdev and Abhijit Chakravarty argued that the petitioner’s claims are misguided because the NMC Act still requires registration with the State Medical Council.
The high court dismissed the petitioner’s claim that transferring jobs would make it inconvenient for a medical practitioner to apply to a new state medical council “without any basis”.
It added the laws allow for presumed approval and a web portal-based registration transfer to another state medical council. No evidence suggests transfer and registration is inconvenient, it stated.
Thus, respondent no.1 (DMC)’s notification under Section 15 of the DMC Act is intra vires and does not conflict with the National Medical Council (NMC) Act. The panel noted that registering medical practitioners under Section 15 (1) of the DMC Act gives the DMC jurisdiction to discipline them for professional or ethical misconduct in Delhi.
