In another landmark judgment that could open the way for private sector medical training, the Supreme Court yesterday ordered the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) to provisionally register three medical graduates of the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine of Sri Lanka (SAITM) as medical practitioners in terms of Section 29 (2) of the Medical Ordinance forthwith. The Court also similarly instructed the Health Ministry and related agencies to ensure that the State sector health care system accepts the SAITM MBBS.
The Supreme Court further ordered the Medical Council to pay a compensation of Rs. 200,000 each to the three petitioners.
This judgement would be applicable to a group of 83 medical graduates who have passed out from the SAITM medical faculty.
Delivering the judgement regarding the Fundamental Rights petition filed by three SAITM students, Justice Preethi Padman Surasena observed that the actions and conduct of the SLMC, being a council created by statute, has amounted to taking the law into its own hands with a deliberate intention to flout the law and violate the previous order made by the Supreme Court as well as the Court of Appeal. Justice Surasena further observed that the SLMC was not exempted from obeying the statutory provisions of the Medical Ordinance and the Universities Act.
The Supreme Court declared that any decision by the respondents including the Health Services Director General, Health Minister, Health Ministry Secretary and the SLMC to exclude the medical graduates of SAITM, from being eligible for the award of internship appointments as medical officers on the sole basis that they are SAITM graduates as reflected in the circular dated 29.01.2019, was ‘illegal’ and has ‘no force in law’.
The Court directed the respondents to take all necessary action to comply with the directions given in this judgement within three weeks from the date the judgement was pronounced.
In its judgment, Supreme Court three-judge bench, comprising Justices Preethi Padman Surasena, Buwaneka Aluwihare and L.T.B. Dehideniya, declared that the SLMC has infringed the petitioners’ fundamental right to the freedom to engage in their preferred lawful occupation or profession, guaranteed by Article 12(1) and 14(1)(g) of the Constitution.
The three Petitioners, namely S.M.Halpe, D.T.Panduwawela and K.P.K. Marapana, stated in their petition that they have duly completed the requisite period of study at the SAITM, sat for the requisite examinations and accordingly obtained the MBBS degrees from SAITM.
After obtaining their MBBS degrees from SAITM, the Petitioners had tendered their applications for provisional registration as medical practitioners with the SLMC, in terms of section 29 of the Medical Ordinance.
The Petitioners complained that the SLMC, in ‘gross and blatant violation’ of the above judgement, had willfully refused to grant the Petitioners and the other 82 similarly circumstanced SAITM medical graduates, the said provisional registration under section 29, despite the fact that the Petitioners had fulfilled the criteria set out in law for eligibility for the said provisional registration.
Petitioners also complain that the Health Services Director General had subsequently taken steps arbitrarily to exclude the Petitioners and, other 82 similarly circumstanced medical graduates of SAITM, from eligibility for provisional registration although they had satisfied the eligibility criteria, in terms of the prevailing law.
President’s Counsel Upul Jayasuriya with counsel Laknath Senevirathna, Chandana Perera instructed by Sampath Wijebandara appeared for the Petitioners. Senior State Counsel Suren Gnanaraj appeared for the Attorney General.
President’s Counsel Manohara de Silva appeared for the Sri Lanka Medical Council.
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