The Madhya Pradesh High Court has deferred the hearing in the case filed by nine Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) challenging the extension of their mandatory internship period. The matter, which was listed on June 19, 2025, was not taken up and is now scheduled to be heard on June 23, 2025.

The petitioners had earlier been granted interim relief by the high court, allowing them to provisionally appear for the NEET-PG 2025 examination, which is likely to be held on August 3 this year. However, the court had made it clear that their results would not be declared without its express permission, and that no special equity shall flow from the interim order.

The petitioners include FMGs who completed their MBBS in China and Ukraine, with one year of online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. These students have challenged the imposition of an additional two years of “clerkship”, beyond the one-year compulsory internship.

During the last hearing on May 19, a Division Bench comprising Justices Sanjeev Sachdeva and Vinay Saraf had questioned the National Medical Commission (NMC) on the logic behind this extension, observing that the reasoning behind two years of clerkship in addition to internship was not clearly explained.

The NMC had sought time to file a detailed affidavit, which is expected to be reviewed in the upcoming hearing. In the meantime, the petitioners remain uncertain about their academic and career prospects, as the validity of their internship and their eligibility for postgraduate admission remains contested.

The FMGs have also argued that the 2023 circular cited by the NMC and Madhya Pradesh Medical Council was meant for students returning from Ukraine and the Philippines, and should not be applied to those from China.

The petitioners were reportedly informed in November 2024, just four months before their expected internship completion in March 2025, that their term had been extended by an additional year, prompting them to move court.

The next hearing will be crucial in determining whether these FMGs can proceed with the NEET-PG 2025 process and whether the court accepts their claim that they have already compensated for the loss of hands-on training during their final year.