Justices A S Chandurkar and G A Sanap on Thursday quashed and set aside MHFW’s February 2 order that rejected Thane resident Siddhesh Veer’s application for a no-objection certificate for NORI citing its August 3,2021 guidelines on an antibrain drain policy. MHFW is directed to issue the NOC within 2 weeks and a NORI certificate a week later. Veer obtained his MD from Russia in June 2010. In September 2011 he passed the Foreign Medical Graduate Exam and in May 2013 received Medical Council of India registration.
He applied for a non-immigrant J-1 (research scholar) visa. He works as a paediatrics researcher with non-patient contact in Detroit. To change his J-1 visa to H1-B (work visa), a waiver of 2 years physical presence in India after the end of the visa period is necessary. Hence, an NOC indicating NORI.
‘Govt not justified in denying doc’s plea’
The Bombay HC has come to the aid of a USbased Indian who qualified as a doctor but practises as a researcher to get an NOC from the ministry of health and family welfare.
The Centre’s advocate Yogesh Bhate said MHFM’s policy is to issue NORI certificates to medical professionals only above 65 years to stem brain drain of doctors. He said there are 10. 5 lakh doctors in India and a shortage of about 4 lakh.
Siddhesh Veer’s advocates Y S Jahagirdar and Vishwajeet Kapse argued that the policy does not distinguish between medical practitioners and researchers. They said Veer surrendered MCI registration in January. He is solely interested in research and will never practise as a medical doctor.
The judges said while NORI cannot be granted routinely there could be exceptional cases. “A rational view of the matter deserves to be taken without the same being against the guidelines,’’ they said, adding that the MHFW “was not justified” in denying NOC for NORI to Veer. The judges noted that Veer’s visa expires on May 1 and residence in the US on J-1 visa beyond 5 years is not permitted. In a similar case, HC in September 2021 had directed the issue of conditional NORI. They said Veer is entitled to relief on the same lines. “It shall be stated in the NORI certificate that if the petitioner commences medical practice in the USA the said certificate would stand cancelled and the petitioner would be required to return to India,’’ they added.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/bombay-high-court-green-cards-medical-research-scholar-based-in-us/articleshow/91194934.cms
