In a surprise move, the Supreme Court on Monday ordered a virtual takeover of the Medical Council of India (MCI). A five-judge Constitution Bench formed a three-member Oversight Committee, headed by former Chief Justice of India (CJI) RM lodha, to oversee all policy decisions and functions of MCI till such time Parliament enacts a new law replacing The Medical Council Act, 1956 governing the regulator.
The other members in the Oversight Committee will be renowned doctor and Director of Institute of liver and Biliary Sciences Shiv Sareen and former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai. The court directed the Centre to issue a notification constituting the panel, giving them a free hand to even override decisions taken by MCI.
The Bench of Justices AR Dave, AK Sikri, RK Agrawal, Adarsh K Goel and R Banumathi said,
“The said Committee will have the authority to oversee all statutory functions under the MCI Act. All policy decisions of the MCI will require approval of the Oversight Committee. The Committee will be free to issue remedial directions.” The Committee will initially serve for a period of one year as the court expected Parliament to bring a suitable mechanism in place to substitute the said committee. It said, “The Committee will function till the Central Government puts in place any other appropriate mechanism after due consideration of the Expert Committee Report.”
It was sheer coincidence that at a time when Parliament is debating how to reform a corrupt MCI, the apex court suo moto took up the issue while deciding on a batch of petitions filed by private medical colleges in Madhya Pradesh where the validity of a 2007 Act passed by MP Government regulating fees, admission of professional educational institutions was under challenge. Some colleges who appeared in the court said that even if an agency appointed by State is to conduct the exams under a State law, it will still lack credibility as the regulatory mechanism provided by MCI suffers from systemic ills.
The trigger for the court to embark on the road to reform MCI was provided by the 92nd report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare presented in both Houses of Parliament on March 8, 2016. The counsel for the State Government relied on the report to suggest that the reform of MCI is actively being considered by both Houses of Parliament after reports indicated corruption at MCI and connivance by its officials in allowing private medical colleges to flourish by compromising with quality of medical professionals and standards of medical care.
The Parliamentary panel also had the benefit to examine an Expert Committee report prepared by late Ranjit Roy Chaudhary that did an extensive research on the problems ailing MCI. The report submitted to Centre on September 25, 2014 proposed MCI’s complete overhaul by forming a National Medical Commission through a new Act that will have four areas of operation, namely Undergraduate Board of Medical Education and Training, PG Board of Medical Education and Training, National Assessment and Accreditation Board, and National Board for Medical Registration.
Writing the judgment for the bench, Justice Sikri said, “The Committee found it (MCI) was repeatedly found short of fulfilling its mandated responsibilities…Taking note of corruption in the MCI it was recommended that expeditious action should be taken to amend the statute and enact a new legislation.” It discussed how nominees of Central and state government on MCI were drawn from corporate private hospitals and election of members was by voting that brought about a lot of compromises.