Mandatory speciality qualification under medical regulations governs promotion to Associate Professor in Neuro Surgery

Where State service rules were absent, the Medical Council of India regulations under the Indian Medical Council Act governed promotion to Associate Professor in Neuro Surgery. The regulation required M.Ch. in the concerned speciality after M.S./F.R.C.S., and the Court treated that speciality qualification as mandatory rather than optional. It refused to rewrite the clear regulatory language into an alternative disjunctive requirement and held that the State of Bihar was bound by the applicable medical regulations. As the appellant lacked the prescribed M.Ch. qualification, relief was declined.

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Issues: Whether, in the absence of State service rules, the Medical Council of India regulations framed under Section 33 of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 required possession of M.Ch. in the speciality concerned as a mandatory qualification for promotion to Associate Professor in Neuro Surgery.

Analysis: The relevant regulation prescribed, for promotion to Professor or Associate Professor in the concerned speciality, the qualification of M.Ch. after M.S./F.R.C.S. The Court held that the language of the regulation was clear and could not be rewritten by reading in an alternative disjunctive requirement. Since no statutory rules had been framed by the State of Bihar, the Medical Council regulations governed the field and were binding on the State. The Court distinguished the earlier authority relied upon by the appellant and treated the prescribed speciality qualification as mandatory rather than optional.

Conclusion: Possession of M.Ch. in the concerned speciality was a necessary qualification for promotion to Associate Professor, and the appellant, lacking that qualification, was not entitled to relief.

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