Government told to issue NORI to doctor doing research in US

Mumbai: In a landmark order that differentiates between practising MBBS degree holders and those pursuing research, the Aurangabad bench of Bombay high court on Tuesday told the government to issue a “No obligation to return to India” or NORI certificate to the petitioner, Sunil Noothi.

The court held that Noothi, who is conducting research to cure blood cancer in the US, is doing a service to humanity and the government should not create hurdles in his path. The government responded that the NORI certificate had been refused on grounds that there was a shortage of doctors in India.

Noothi in his petition prayed to the division bench of Justice R.M. Borde and Justice S.S. Patil that he had completed his MBBS in 2002 and ever since, was conducting doctoral and post-doctoral research for which the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in 2010 conferred upon him a Doctorate of Philosophy (Ph.D.).

Counsel for the government argued that there was a shortfall of 4 lakh doctors in India and hence, the government had stopped issuing NORI since 2011 as most doctors who went abroad preferred to settle down there.

After hearing both sides, the bench ruled that instead of creating hurdles in his commendable research project, they  could have imposed a condition that in case he started practising medicine, the NORI certificate would stand cancelled and he would be required to come back to India.