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Indian doctors in UK win major legal battle
British govt
agrees to withdraw discriminatory clause
WSN Network
London: Indian doctors have won a significant legal battle in the
high court of justice as the British government agreed to withdraw a
“discriminatory clause” which would have excluded them from the job
interview and appointments process if they did not have visas beyond
August 1, 2007.
The high court was due to hear on Thursday the application filed by
the (BAPIO) for
permission to take a judicial review of the injunction on rules
affecting Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP) doctors.
As the hearing began, the secretary of state’s counsel requested an
adjournment. BAPIO was informed that the secretary was prepared to
concede. “BAPIO accepted this offer and agreed to withdraw the case
since the secretary of state gave an undertaking to the court that
this clause will be removed,” Dr Ramesh Mehta, president of BAPIO,
said on Friday.
“For the first time a clear message has been sent out that promises
made to International Medicals Graduates (IMGs) must be kept. HSMP
doctors were allowed in to make UK their home; HSMP doctors must be
treated at par with UK and EU nationals and there is no basis for
discriminating against them,” Mehta said.
On March 4, BAPIO obtained an emergency injunction to prevent
discrimination of doctors on HSMP visa whose visas were due for
renewal before August 1, in the first round of the current
recruitment for 21,000 training jobs. This was necessary because
while the department of health had agreed to keep the new rules
discriminating against HSMP doctors in abeyance, it had introduced a
new clause which stated that to be considered for the interview
these doctors must have HSMP visa that was current on August 1,
2007.
BAPIO believed that this would
disadvantage many international doctors whose visa came up for
renewal before this date and hence filed for and obtained this
injunction. Dr Raman Lakshman, vice chair for policy, said, “We had
many doctors writing to us expressing concern that they will be
refused an interview even though they had been short-listed. We
therefore had no option but to file for the injunction. We were sure
we would have won if the case had been heard. We are pleased that
the department of health has conceded and we hope there will be no
further obstacles for HSMP doctors.”
“This marks a great day in the history of IMG in the UK. At long
last IMG have been able to assert their right to be treated fairly.
We thank our barristers, solicitors and legal team for their
efficient and effective action,” said Dr Satheesh Mathew, vice chair
for operations. Meanwhile, a spokesman of the UK Visas said on
Friday certain “transitional arrangements” have been made for Highly
Skilled Migrants in the UK to ensure that they qualify for further
leave to remain.
14 March, 2007
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