Summary:
Mumbai, Sep 15 (PTI) The Bombay High Court on Wednesday said the Union government"s policy of not issuing a No Obligation to Return to India (NORI) certificate to medical degree holders wishing to obtain a Green Card in the US, cannot be made applicable to research scholars who don"t intend to practice medicine.
A division bench of Justices R D Dhanuka and R I Chagla has directed the Centre to issue a NORI certificate to 27-year-old Avani Vaishnav within five weeks.
The court passed its order on a petition filed by Vaishnav, who is presently in New York, challenging a letter issued by the Under Secretary (Scholarship), Department of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education rejecting her application for a NORI certificate.
The Centre while rejecting the application relied on a policy decision that said NORI certificates cannot be issued to medical practitioners and medical degree holders, as they then migrate to other countries resulting in dearth of doctors in India.
A NORI certificate is issued by the home country to an applicant, certifying that he or she is under no obligation to return to the home country.
The court in its judgment, however, noted that the petitioner had completed her MBBS degree from a private college and accepted the undertaking given by her that she would not be practising medicine in India or in the US and would only do research work.