New Delhi, August 26
The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Centre on petitions filed by Indian medical students evacuated from Ukraine seeking permission to continue their studies in India.
Asking the Centre to respond to the petition, a Bench led by Justice Hemant Gupta posted the matter for further hearing in September.
Citing the extraordinary situation created by the Russia-Ukraine war that impeded their education, the petitioners said they were going through immense mental hardship and agony since their entire education and career had virtually come to a standstill since February 2022, with no foreseeable restoration of peace in the war-torn country.
They said the education of about 14,000 evacuated Indian students has come to a complete halt as their careers stand to be irreparably jeopardized and their fundamental rights protected under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India have become illusory.
The petitioner urged the top court to exercise its jurisdiction under Article 142 of the Constitution view of the extraordinary situation on account of the ongoing war in Ukraine to protect the interests of the evacuated students and their migration to Indian Medical Colleges.
“The unfortunate situation which has transpired in the present case is that the petitioners are neither in a position to resume their education at their respective institutions in Ukraine nor permitted to continue their education at institutions in India under the present regulations,” the petition read.
They have sought direction under Section 45 of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, upon the NMC to frame guidelines and SOPs for the migration of Indian medical students who have been evacuated from Ukraine to Indian Medical Colleges as a one-time measure in the equivalent academic year.
They said the Centre should issue necessary directions under Section 46 of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019; and an appropriate direction upon the respondents to provide adequate infrastructural/academic and financial support for the continuation of medical education of the evacuated Indian students from Ukraine.
