Plea in Delhi HC Seeking Time-Bound Verification of Medical Qualifications & Certificates

A petition has been filed in the Delhi High Court urging the Centre and the Delhi Government to conduct a time-bound verification of medical qualifications and educational certificates of all medical practitioners operating across the NCT of Delhi.

The petition contends that there is an unabated increase in quackery in Delhi, where individuals lacking proper medical qualifications exploit the lax oversight, thereby compromising the integrity of the State Medical Council.

Furthermore, it alleges that these unscrupulous practitioners operate with a dangerous disregard for established medical protocols, thereby endangering the lives of unsuspecting patients.

The petition emphasizes the urgent need for the Court’s intervention, citing recent news reports in print and electronic media that expose a fake doctors’ scam at a nursing home in Delhi, NCR.

The regulatory body’s leniency in dealing with such incidents allegedly resulted in the death of various victims.

A recent incident in Delhi’s Greater Kailash area involved the deaths of two doctors, a woman posing as a surgeon, a laboratory technician, and several patients. Four individuals were arrested in connection with the deaths of two patients who underwent surgeries at a clinic in south Delhi.

The petition underscores that technicians at the hospital were performing surgeries while posing as doctors/surgeons, leading to the tragic loss of lives.

Dr. Neeraj Agarwal, identified as the proprietor of Agarwal Medical Centre, is alleged to be only an MBBS practitioner posing as a fake specialist to conduct major surgeries at the hospital.

The plea asserts that, as an MBBS, he was not qualified to perform surgeries, yet he reportedly carried out 3000 surgeries in a calendar year.

Despite at least 13 complaints lodged with the Delhi Medical Council (DMC) against the illegal practitioners of Aggarwal Medical Centre since 2011, the plea contends that the DMC failed to act diligently against Dr. Neeraj Agarwal and his accomplices.

The petition, filed by five petitioners, including a 6-year-old disabled child who sustained a brain injury at the hands of doctors at a private hospital in Delhi, seeks court direction to establish a High Powered Committee comprising Retired Judges and independent reputed members of society.

This committee would monitor the verification process to ensure it is conducted fairly, ethically, and transparently.

The plea also requests an investigation into the functioning of the Delhi Medical Council by independent agencies like the CBI, citing the council’s alleged malpractice of granting fake registrations and shielding unqualified doctors.