A division bench comprising Justices S B Mhase and B B Vagyani, in their judgement in the Sarang Choube vs State of Maharahstra and others case, have remarked that the 18-month rule was ``absurd, unjust and absolutely bad and illegal'' and needs to be struck down.

Sarang Choube, who had cleared his first year MBBS course in November 1997 from the Mahatma Gandhi Mission's Medical College at Navi Mumbai (which is affiliated to the University of Mumbai) had sought migration to the MGM's medical college at Aurangabad on health grounds. He had explained that his medical condition required that he residewith his parents, who were in Aurangabad.

After a prolonged legal battle, the MCI, the apex body governing medical education in the country, finally cleared his migration on April 15, 1999. However, it barred him from taking the second year MBBS exam till he completed 18 months of study at the MGM's medical college which is affiliated to the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University at Aurangabad even though the exam was scheduled for May 1999.

The MCI had pointed out that according to Subsection V of Rule VI for migration, a student has to pursue an 18-month study course at the transferee medical college before taking the second year MBBS examination.

However, the court has held that this was an erroneous interpretation of the sub-section on the migration rule. ``The interpretation is unjust as the student can seek migration only after passing his first year examination, and till such time as his application is lying pending with the Medical Council of India, he can neither leave his present collegenor join the transferee college. Any delay on the part of the MCI in processing the application of the student would result in the loss of one full academic year of the student under the 18-month rule,'' the court said.

``The proper reading the sub-section on migration reveals that a student should complete 18 months of study before he takes up the second year MBBS examination, as do all other students in the course,'' court remarked. In the case of a student in the process of migration, it will not be possible for him to complete this 18-month study at any one college and thus his total period of study should be calculated as the sum of study he put in in his original and the transferee college,'' the bench held. However, the court clarified that if the total study period at both colleges is less than 18 months, he will not be eligible to take the examination.

While terming the MCI's interpretation of the migration rule as ``absurd'' and ``absolutely bad'' the court also came down heavily on itsofficials for handling the whole migration case before it in a ``most negligent'' manner which resulted in a belated order.

In fact, the entire process of seeking migration for Choube had become a battle of prestige between the MCI and the high court, with the petitioner needing to rush to court to seek relief at every stage. In the present case, though Choube had applied to the MCI for migration in January 1998 after securing a no-objection certificate from the University of Mumbai, the MCI took 10 months to decide on his application. Then, on October 16, it rejected his application without specifying its reasons.

Choube approached court but in January 1999, the MCI rejected his application yet again. Choube challenged the decision too, with the court directing him to undergo further medical tests. He complied and the court directed the MCI to reconsider its earlier decision in the light of the fresh data. It also granted the petitioner provisional admission to the Aurangabad medical college.

Finally,on April 15, 1999, the MCI cleared Choube's migration but said he could not take the second year MBBS exam as the last date for submission of the application form had lapsed. The court, however, directed the college to accept and process Choube's examination form. Before disposing of the case, whose order was signed on May 15, 1999, the court also struck down the MCI's 18-month migration rule.