The Centre's notification making it mandatory for sonologists to undergo additional training for conducting ultrasound came under judicial scrutiny with the Delhi High Court today issuing a notice to the government on a plea of Indian Medical Association challenging its validity.
A bench, headed by Chief Justice G Rohini and R S Endlaw, sought a response from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and posted the matter for next hearing on July 21.
IMA had approached the court challenging a notification issued by the Health Ministry on January 9 which specifies that any sonologist, who who has been conducting ultrasound procedures, will be required to qualify a competency-based assessment to renew his registration.
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A sonologist or imaging specialist is a person who possesses any one of the medical qualifications recognized under the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 or who possesses a post-graduate qualification in ultrasonography or imaging techniques or radiology.
Under the PCPNDT Act 1994, all persons who have a MBBS degree under the MCI Act could be sonologists.
The petition, filed through lawyer Nitesh Jain, alleged the notification was in violation of Section 32 of the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection)(PCPNDT) Act of 1974, as amended by the Ministry of Health, as it contains an additional requirement of one-year experience or 6 months training.
The petition has alleged the requirement of six-month training is merely a repetition provided in the curriculum of MBBS and it is "unreasonable and arbitrary" to ask for a competency assessment.
"The government by way of prescribing the said PCPNDT Rules 2014 have acted beyond its powers conferred by the Act and hence, the notification prescribing the PCPNDT Rules 2014 deserves to be quashed on this ground alone," the petition said.
