AHMEDABAD: Nevil Patel, a doctor from Patan, has approached the Gujarat high court over the Medical Council of India’s decision to cancel his 2009 MBBS degree as punishment for taking a medical entrance test for a super-specialty course conducted by the National Board of Examinations (NBE) held last year. Patel was barred from taking any exam by the NBE for seven years after he was caught impersonating two students in an MBBS entrance exam in 2012.Patel was caught and charged with impersonation. He was then pursuing Diplomate of National Board (DNB) at St Stephen’s College in Delhi.When the NBE paved the way for the National Entrance cum Eligibility Test (NEET) in 2015, Patel decided to take the entrance test for a super-specialty course. In 2017, he applied and was accepted. He was issued an admit card as well. But he was not allowed to take the test at the last moment. Officials cited the seven-year ban. He was also issued a show-cause notice for the cancellation of his degree for applying for the test while he was facing the ban.The proceedings were shifted to the Delhi Medical Council which decided that Patel cannot practise medicine in Delhi for three years. The decision was challenged in the Delhi high court, which ordered the MCI to re-examine the matter in the next three weeks.The MCI’s ethics committee said that there was no reason for ‘extra punishment’ as Patel was already facing the seven-year ban.According to Patel’s lawyer, Rahil Jain, when the MCI’s ethics committee conveyed its recommendations to the executive committee, the decision was taken to cancel Patel’s MBBS degree. Jain said that the MCI’s decision to cancel the degree was taken without a hearing. “We have challenged the decision,” Jain said.“A 2009 MBBS degree cannot be cancelled for an alleged offence committed in 2017. The two students are medical practitioners now,” he added.After a preliminary hearing, the high court issued a notice to the MCI, the Delhi Medical Council, the NBE and the Gujarat Medical Council last week.

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